Question: What are the Enneagram Instinctual Countertypes and Stacking Patterns?

Katherine: The term “countertype” was first used by Claudio Naranjo in 1971. He coined the term to explain the characteristics of the "strong reaction" of the counterphobic type 6 that manages fear by immediately moving into the fear and confronting it; instead of avoiding fear the way the phobic type 6 does.

In 1994, I began my formal research studies on the "internal experience" of Enneagram types and subtypes. During my research, I noticed that each Enneagram type seemed to have a "stereotype" and two "countertypes” in a hierarchical stacking order.

The “stereotype” occurred when the core fear of the Enneagram type matched the core fear of the instinctual type accentuating the focus of attention. The two “countertypes: within a type occurred when the core fears of the Enneagram type’s center combined with the core fears of the other two instinctual types.

It is important to note that in 1971, Claudio Naranjo began recognizing a more primitive expression of Ichazo’s ego types. It was at this time that he added his theory of Subtypes. He placed the primal aspects of Ichazo’s three Instinctual Triads (centers) under each Enneagram type as the three subtypes of Ichazo’s ego types. Learn more about the Instinctual Subtypes here: www.katherinefauvre.com/subtypes

In theory, we are governed by all three instinctual drives, representing our fundamental way of being. Still, one is generally more dominant and influential in our lives and defines how we act out our Enneagram type's passions, fixations, and convictions. If all three instinctual drives were in balance, we could function “perfectly” or “appropriately” to the needs of each situation. Nevertheless, such a balance is rare. Usually, one of these drives is dominant and commands an undue amount of our attention; it becomes a person’s dominant instinctual drive that is overused. The resulting imbalance distorts our perception of our essential needs. We may live large portions of our lives “in service” to the demands of the dominant instinctual drive.

What are the Instinctual Countertypes? Understanding Countertype Variations

In the study of Enneagram Instinctual Subtypes, Katherine Chernick Fauvre's 1996 discovery of Stereotypes, Primary Countertypes, and Secondary Countertypes revolutionized how we understand personality variation within each type at a deeper level.

While the Stereotypical Subtype aligns with the Instinctual Type and reinforces the common expectations associated with the Enneagram Type; the Primary Countertypes challenge those assumptions. The Secondary Countertypes vacillate, moving back and forth—at times matching the Stereotype and at other times matching the Primary Countertype.

These distinctions are based on how the idealized self-images, core fears, and defense strategies of the dominant instinctual drive interact with the idealized self-images, core fears, and defense strategies of the Enneagram types. These three systems—idealized self-images from the Heart Center (Types 2, 3, 4), core fears from the Head Center (Types 5, 6, 7), and defense strategies from the Gut Center (Types 8, 9, 1)—intersect with the core fears and instinctual aims of the Self-Preserving, Social, and Sexual instinctual types.

Each Enneagram type has three instinctual subtype expressions—Stereotype, Primary Countertype, and Secondary Countertype—that reflect different internal dynamics, compensatory mechanisms, and modes of instinctual response. These three expressions emerge from the integration of idealized self-images, core fears, and defense strategies, along with the passions, fixations, and convictions of the Enneagram types, in pursuit of their evolutionary agenda. The Stereotype aligns instinct and type; the Primary Countertype resists or inverts the type’s expected behavior; and the Secondary Countertype moves between both expressions, creating inconsistent or hybrid presentations.

Learning to recognize and differentiate these three subtype expressions is essential for correctly identifying one’s TrueTypes (one's accurate set of Enneagram Type and Subtypes Stackings) and understanding the full range of behavioral variability and psychological nuance within each Enneagram point. These behaviors may vary according to the three expressions, but the idealized self-images, core fears, and defense strategies, along with the passions, fixations, and convictions of the Enneagram types, remain constant because the motivations of the types remain unchanged; only the behaviors change.

The 3 Instinctual Stacking Patterns: Order, Proportions, and Identifications: Positive, Negative, and Neutral

What are the Stacking Patterns: Order, Proportions, and Identifications?Understanding the Subtype and the Tritype® Stacking Patterns

I found three Instinctual Stacking Patterns: Stacking Order: (hierarchy and racking of the three types), Stacking Proportions: (the percentedges of each type in the stacking), Identifications; positive (+), negative (-), and neutral (+/-). for both the Instinctual Subtypes and the Tritypes®.

Stacking Patterns refer to the hierarchical configuration of the three instincts within an individual and how they interact to shape the personality structure. These patterns are dynamic, unconscious, and deeply influenced by both temperament and early relational conditioning. The three stacking components are:

• Order: Refers to which instinct is dominant (first), which is secondary (second), and which is least preferred (third). The dominant instinct initiates the defense sequence and dictates the organism’s most automatic response under stress. The secondary instinct is used to support the dominant instinct, while the third instinct is often overlooked, underdeveloped, or idealized. This order determines the sequence in which instincts are triggered in the Tritype® configuration, with the dominant instinct leading the activation of core fears and reactivity.

• Proportions: Refers to how much influence each instinct has—measured in relative percentage. One may be 60% dominant in the Self-Preserving instinct, 30% secondary in the Sexual instinct, and 10% least preferred in the Social instinct. The proportions are unique to each individual and reflect how much energy and attention are given to each instinct. Katherine's research showed that disproportionate stacking can cause over-identification or neglect of certain instincts, regardless of their position in the hierarchy.

• Identifications (nurture): These reflect how a person relates to each instinct—positively (+), negatively (–), or ambivalently (+/–)—based on early childhood nurturing or its absence. People may dislike their dominant instinct (–), overidentify with their least preferred instinct (+), or experience internal conflict around an instinct (+/–). Katherine discovered that these identifications are shaped by early emotional associations, reinforcement patterns, and the modeling of caregivers. This often results in mistyping or misstacking when individuals mistake behavior or aspiration for true instinctual dominance.

Katherine emphasized that identification patterns must be explored to clarify the correct stacking. Many mistype due to idealizing what they believe they “should be,” rather than identifying what actually governs their instinctual response under pressure. Proportions and identifications together create the instinctual fingerprint—subtle yet profoundly influential.

Most people strongly identify with one primary drive, with some traits in the other drives. When two of the instinctual drives are almost equally dominant, it is noteworthy that the third drive is usually eclipsed or omitted. This still demonstrates the imbalanced use of the three very essential instinctual drives. The teaching of Instinctual Types suggests that these fundamental instinctual drives must be equally cared for and balanced to harness the energy needed to move toward transformation. The concept is that the energy expended in dealing with the instinctual drives’ imbalance diminishes one’s access to the energy necessary to move against passions, fixations, and convictions, and toward transformation.

Unfamiliar with Countertypes and the four Stacking Patterns?
Find more in Katherine’s new books: Enneagram Instinctual Subtypes 2.0: Advanced Instincts, Subtypes, Countertypes and Stackings. Now on sale on Amazon.com

More on Tritype® here:
Katherine created a test that has been programmed to pick up particular patterns that the types use.
Take the test here: https://enneagramtritypetest.com
General Information: www.katherinefauvre.com/tritype
YouTube: Katherine Fauvre | Creator of Tritype®