Ethics
Help, before anything else
Before I was an Enneagram practitioner, I was someone who wanted to be useful to people who were struggling. That's still the truest description of what I do. The accreditations, the training, the frameworks: they're all in service of that one instinct: to help, carefully and honestly.
I volunteer as a listener with Samaritans, answering calls from people in some of their hardest moments. There's no script that fits everyone, just listening, steadying, and knowing when someone needs more than a voice on the line. What callers share stays confidential to Samaritans, so I won't describe it here, and nothing from those calls ever comes into my private practice. But it shapes how I show up in every other room: slower to conclude, quicker to listen, and clear-eyed about the difference between being present with someone and treating them.
This page sets out the principles I hold to, where they come from, and where I'm still growing.
Where this comes from
I'm an accredited Enneagram practitioner through Integrative Enneagram Solutions (iEQ9), grounded in the established developmental tradition of the model. It's not a quiz, but a serious framework for understanding motivation. Alongside that, I'm training as a counsellor: Level 2 complete, now studying at Level 3, and I hold myself to the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions as I do.
That combination matters. The Enneagram work I offer is coaching-style, not therapy. But because I'm training within a clinical ethical framework, and because I spend hours each week listening to people in real distress, I don't take the boundaries of this work lightly. I know what's inside them and what falls outside, and I say so.
What this work is, and isn't
Enneagram sessions, for individuals or couples, are structured, practical work to help you understand what drives you and the people close to you. They are not counselling, psychotherapy, or any form of mental health treatment, and they shouldn't be relied on as a substitute for those. If it becomes clear in our work together that you'd benefit from counselling, therapy, or other professional support, I'll say so plainly, and help you find it where I can.
If you're in crisis right now, this page, or an Enneagram session, isn't the right place. Please contact a crisis line (such as Samaritans on 116 123, free, 24/7), NHS 111, or emergency services.
The Enneagram, the Johari Window, and self-awareness
Most of what limits people isn't hidden on purpose; it's just outside their own view. The Johari Window is a simple way of picturing this: some things about you are known to you and known to others; some are known to others but not to you (your blind spots); some are known to you but not shared (what you keep hidden); and some aren't known to anyone yet.
The Enneagram is one of the clearest tools I've found for making that unknown territory visible, for turning blind spots into things you can see and work with, and for giving you language to share what previously felt too hard to name. I don't use it to put people in boxes. I use it to open windows. What you do with the view is yours to decide.
Enneagram coaching ethics: what I hold to
Your self-knowledge, not my verdict
You identify your own type. I create the conditions for recognition. I never label anyone from the outside, and I won't override your own read of yourself.
Informed consent
You should always know what a session is for, what it involves, and what it can't do, before we start. If anything is unclear, ask. I'd rather explain than assume.
Confidentiality, with limits stated up front
What you share in sessions stays private, in line with my privacy policy. The only exceptions are the standard ones any ethical practitioner holds to: risk of serious harm to you or someone else, or where the law requires disclosure. I'll always try to talk to you first if this becomes relevant.
Scope and referral
I work within the limits of coaching-style Enneagram practice and my current level of counselling training. Where something needs more than that (a mental health condition, relationship harm, anything clinical), I say so and help you find appropriate support rather than stretching what I offer to cover it.
No exploitation of the helper relationship
Sessions serve your goals, not mine. Nothing from my Samaritans volunteering, no caller and no conversation, comes into my private practice. I mention it because it has shaped how I listen, not to suggest Samaritans endorses this work: the two are entirely separate.
Ongoing accountability
I work under supervision as part of my counselling training, and I keep my Enneagram practice under regular review as part of my own professional development. Enneagram coaching ethics isn't a page I wrote once. It's something I have to keep re-earning.
Where I'm going
I'm now in Level 3 counselling training. My aim isn't to turn Enneagram sessions into therapy by the back door (the two will stay clearly separated), but to keep deepening my own capacity to sit with people well, in whichever room I'm in. If my scope of practice changes, this page will change with it.
Questions or concerns
If anything here is unclear, or if you have a concern about a session, please get in touch directly. I'd rather hear it than have it go unsaid.
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