Enneagram Type 2, often called The Helper or The Giver, is characterized by a deep desire to be loved and appreciated, often expressed through helping and supporting others. Below is a detailed breakdown:
Core Traits
- Strengths: Warm, empathetic, generous, and nurturing. They excel at understanding others’ emotions and needs.
- Challenges: Struggle with boundaries, people-pleasing tendencies, and neglecting their own needs.
- Focus of Attention: Others’ feelings, needs, and desires, often at the expense of their own.
Motivations
- Core Desire: To feel loved and needed.
- Core Fear: Being unwanted or unloved.
- Emotional Pattern: Pride—denying their own needs while focusing on being indispensable to others.
Strengths
- Excellent at building relationships and making others feel valued.
- Adaptable and enthusiastic team players who thrive in supportive roles.
- Persistent and devoted to causes or people they care about.
Challenges
- May become manipulative or controlling when their help is unappreciated.
- Tend to ignore self-care and struggle with expressing their own needs.
- Can feel resentment when their efforts are not reciprocated or acknowledged.
In Relationships
- Twos are affectionate, attentive partners who prioritize emotional connection.
- They may struggle with feeling unappreciated if their giving nature is taken for granted or misunderstood.
Wings
- 2w1: Called “the companion” or “the servant.” Nurturing, empathetic, principled, and perfectionistic.
- 2w3: Called “the charismatic helper” or the “host.” Nurturing, ambitious, and success driven.
Growth Path
To grow, Type 2s should:
- Practice self-care and recognize their own needs as valid.
- Develop humility by allowing themselves to be loved without needing to “earn” it.
- Set healthy boundaries to avoid burnout or emotional dependency.
