Using the
Enneagram
to Name, Tame &
Transform Your
Inner Critic
Creative Practices, Tools &
Rituals for Spiritual Directors
Presenter
Chelsea Forbrook
Dates
Mondays: October 23 & 30, November 6, 13 & 20
1:00 – 2:30pm Pacific
4:00 – 5:30pm Eastern
Duration
7.5 hours (total)
Webinar will be recorded.
“If you've ever been besieged by your inner critic while striving to achieve your dreams, Chelsea Forbrook's guide to taming and transforming these demons will not only prove an invaluable guide in how to overcome them, it will also make you laugh -- and demons hate being laughed at!”
~ Sean Murphy, Zen Meditation Teacher, NEA Creative Writing Fellow and Hemingway Award-winning novelist
The Inner Critic shows up in nine distinct ways, and depending on your Enneagram type, it demands different things of us. Our Enneagram type determines what our Critic’s “marching orders” are, and any transgression of these internal mandates will result in feelings of shame, rage, doubt, or fear. Listening to the Critic creates tension, unskillful habits, and stagnancy (and in more certain cases, depression and anxiety).
The Inner Critic is important to understand and work with because it is the part of our psyche that keeps us the same. Its sole purpose is to block change and evolution toward more expansive, present and connected states of being (i.e. spirituality). An active and unchecked Inner Critic is a barrier both for ourselves as spiritual companions, and for those we companion. It stops us from taking risks, trying new things, and following our dreams. While the study of the Inner Critic is partly psychological, it reaches to the depths of our being, and the results of working with it are spiritual. As a psycho-spiritual roadmap, the Enneagram shows us the path toward freedom from the Inner Critic.
This webinar will lead you through the structural makeup of the Inner Critic, and introduce you to creative exercises and discover new tools for detaching from your Inner Critic. Everyone has an Inner Critic, but it shows up in very different ways, as we will learn from a study of the Enneagram (no previous Enneagram knowledge required). The aim of getting in closer contact with our Inner Critic is that we will learn to befriend it and ultimately transform it into an Inner Advocate. This work brings us in contact with our own Sacred Essence, and removes barriers in receiving love from others and from the Divine.
As spiritual companions wrestling with our own Enneagram types, we must be diligent in addressing and healing our own Inner Critic voices and feelings in order to be nonreactive and fully present to the people we companion. Having experienced this process, method and practical toolkit, you will be able to offer compassionate and creative presence to others in the moments when their Inner Critic (or yours!) starts to take over and run the show.
This 5-week online webinar series, designed for spiritual directors and companions, offers an experiential introduction to the tools of Inner Critic healing and radical self compassion, through the framework of the Enneagram. We will also use tools of art, writing, repeating questions, meditation, visualization, imagination, humor and internal dialogue with our “Inner Critic Characters,” as well as learning from discussion and sharing with others in the group.
This Webinar Series is an Invitation to:
- Work with your own unique Inner Critic so it doesn’t show up in spiritual companionship
- Develop an Inner Critic Toolkit, both for yourself and for those you companion
- Learn how the Inner Critic operates within nine distinct personality types
- Understand the importance of Inner Critic work in spiritual connection, growth, healing, and relationship with the Divine
- Distinguish between genuine emotions that need to be tended to and processed versus shame, blame, hatred and doubt that come from the Inner Critic
- Befriend your Inner Critic and change your relationship to it with humor and love
- Recognize the Inner Critic’s influence in those you companion and guide them to a place of inner safety and ease
Chelsea Forbrook is the author of the book, Blessing My Demons: How to Name, Tame & Transform Your Inner Critic, published by Wise Ink, which is available for purchase on Amazon. (The price of the book is not included in the webinar cost.) Webinar participants do not have to purchase the book, though it is a handy resource for those companioning others in Spiritual Direction, and includes stories, practices and tools not mentioned in the webinar.
Messages from the Inner Critic
The sneaky Inner Critic can show up in a number of ways, unique to each of the 9 Enneagram Personality Types. This can look like:
- Type 1: "I am bad"
- Type 2: "I'm not lovable"
- Type 3: "I'm not valuable"
- Type 4: "I don't belong"
- Type 5: "I'm not enough"
- Type 6: "I'm in danger"
- Type 7: "I'm trapped"
- Type 8: "Vulnerability is weak"
- Type 9: "I don't matter"
Course Description
Session 1 (October 23, 2023)
Discovering the Enneagram’s Nine Flavors of Inner Critic: In this first session, we will ask and answer the question, “What is an Inner Critic, really?” We will explore its functioning and purpose within our psyches, and how it holds us back from change and spiritual growth. We will discover nine different flavors of the Inner Critic, using the framework of the Enneagram (you do not need previous Enneagram knowledge to participate and follow along with this webinar).
Session 2 (October 30, 2023)
Taming the Inner Critic: We will explore three common internal responses to the Inner Critic that do not work: listening to it, rebelling against it, or trying to justify ourselves. (We each have a favorite go-to response, depending on Enneagram type.) This session will take you through a process that does work. You will get to know your own Inner Critic, dialogue with it, and detach from it with objectivity and humor. We will use the tools of imagination, intuition, artistic expression and journaling.
Session 3 (November 6, 2023)
Developing an Inner Critic Toolkit: There are many practices that can heal shame, self doubt and self hatred. We will apply practical methods for self forgiveness, self compassion, somatic grounding, and developing a sense of humor that releases the Inner Critic’s hold on us. We will explore how to use these tools in sessions while companioning others.
Session 4 (November 13, 2023)
Distinguishing Between Normal Emotions and Our Enneagram Type’s Inner Critic: Many people struggle with self judgment and shame for having normal human emotions like fear, doubt, anger and grief. In this session, we will look at nine different ways humans react unskillfully to their emotions according to Enneagram Type. As spiritual companions, we must learn the nuanced difference between when to encourage someone to stay with their emotions and when to point out that the Inner Critic has snuck in and to get some space away from it.
Session 5 (November 20, 2023)
Enneagram Alchemy: Transforming Inner Critic to Inner Advocate: This session will explore how spiritual companions can model self compassion and self advocacy for those they accompany. Using the “Lost Childhood Messages” of the Enneagram, we will practice affirming ourselves and others, receiving love and compassion, and implementing gratitude practices that will create a strong sense of connection to the True Self. We will also look at how humans naturally project their Enneagram Type’s Inner Critic onto their image of God or Higher Power. With awareness of this tendency, we can release it, and learn to connect with Loving Reality instead of ego projections.
- Participants from all spiritual traditions and philisophical orientations are welcome in this webinar series.
- Each session runs 90 minutes, and will include teaching, spiritual exercises, breakout discussion groups, and Q&A.
- All sessions will be recorded and be viewable for at least 12 months after the last session goes live.
When
The webinar series will run 5 consecutive Mondays: October 23 & 30 y November 6, 13, & 20
- 1:00 PM Seattle/Los Angeles
- 3:00 PM Chicago
- 4:00 PM Eastern
Find your own local time here.
You are invited to join us live so that you can engage others in discussion, exercises, and ask questions. However, each session is recorded, so you can watch at your convenience.
Presenter
Chelsea Forbrook
Chelsea is the author of “Blessing My Demons: How to Name, Tame & Transform Your Inner Critic,” available in stores and on Amazon October 2023.
Chelsea was awarded a scholarship from Spiritual Directors International (SDI) to be a part of the New Contemplatives cohort in 2018 (a selected group of outstanding spiritual directors under age 40), and is a current member of SDI.
Chelsea Forbrook is the President of Enneagram Minnesota, and is a Spiritual Director and Enneagram educator based in Minneapolis, MN. She takes great delight in making spiritual principles and practices easy and accessible for all. Chelsea is certified through Full Circle Enneagram, The Enneagram Institute, Russ Hudson’s year long Depth Certification in Conscious Living, The Somatic Enneagram, and is an accredited professional through the International Enneagram Association (IEA). She teaches a five month experiential Enneagram course for personal transformation, is the creator of the Enneaplaque (a meditation tool for awakening), and hosts a podcast called “The Enneagram of Essence.”
Before Chelsea discovered the Enneagram, she was immersed in anti-racism facilitation work through ASDIC (Anti Racism Study Dialogue Circles), the YWCA, and People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. Chelsea holds a degree in religious studies with an emphasis on Liberation Theology, and a certificate in Leadership Toward Racial Justice from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
Learn more about Chelsea at www.chelseaforbrook.com
Additional Information
- Participants from all spiritual traditions and orientations are welcome in this webinar series as are those with all levels of spiritual experience.
- Each session will run approximately 90 minutes. We understand that the timing of the seminar will not be convenient in every time zone on the planet. For those who have trouble making this time, a recorded copy of each session will be made available to all those who sign up.
- CEU credits are available for all those who participate. SDI will provide a certificate of completion for self-reporting to agencies. More information can be found here: continuing education units (CEUs).
- Scholarships are available for those facing financial hardship. Please apply here.
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