EPP Guide Training Program (GTP)
Since our inception in 2012, we have had our heads down creating impactful, replicable Enneagram curriculum for those incarcerated. Somewhere along the way we started to realize that we were also creating a most unusual, extraordinarily fulfilling workplace that is full of love and care - in prisons!
Transformation on both sides of the bars.
Not only is our work transforming the lives of those "on the inside," but EPP Guides - our paid workforce of instructors - are emerging from prisons and jails with life changing stories of their own. The kind of growth we are experiencing requires the creativity, faith, and diligence of all of us EPP "peeps," who regularly suspend fears, and self-doubts, and lean into the best of who we know ourselves to be so that we are credible teachers of how to do this work. We've created an extraordinary community that is like a family - without the baggage - and we have lots of room for more in-laws and outlaws.
"Validating the inherent worth of a person as absolutely true is nothing short of a transformative conversation - no matter on which side of the prison wall you happen to stand."
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EPP's GUIDE TRAINING PROGRAM (GTP) OVERVIEW
WHAT IS AN EPP GUIDE?
WHAT IS THE GUIDE TRAINING PROGRAM (GTP)?
GUIDE SUPPORT
SCHEDULE 2024
OUR FACULTY
FAQ
TUITION
WHAT IS AN EPP GUIDE?
What is an EPP Guide?
EPP Guides are constantly growing, conscious individuals who have journeyed their own inner terrain with enough depth and skill to offer their wisdom, experience, and steady presence to others who are navigating their own journeys.
EPP remains unwavering in our vision to free people – all over the world – from the prisons of our own making. EPP was inspired by serving imprisoned people.
We are compassionate and especially sensitive to those who have been charged and convicted of crimes against society. Many of our students have endured childhood trauma, emotional, sexual, and physical abuse, violence and addiction, often repetitively and over many generations. Because of this, we seek mature, confident, compassionate individuals with a sincere desire to bring forth their self-mastery in the classroom. Guides balance life and work, and are supported by regular inner practice and self-care.
At EPP we use the Enneagram system as a map of personality structures that helps us find our core self when we lose our way. We consider our teachers to be trustworthy guides. Knowing how to orient to this roadmap of personality allows us to navigate the complex inner terrain of ego, and remember where and who we actually are. Even a very good map is only as useful as our ability to stop and look at it, the knowledge to read it, and the presence of mind to recognize where we are to begin.
EPP remains unwavering in our vision to free people – all over the world – from the prisons of our own making. EPP was inspired by serving imprisoned people.
We are compassionate and especially sensitive to those who have been charged and convicted of crimes against society. Many of our students have endured childhood trauma, emotional, sexual, and physical abuse, violence and addiction, often repetitively and over many generations. Because of this, we seek mature, confident, compassionate individuals with a sincere desire to bring forth their self-mastery in the classroom. Guides balance life and work, and are supported by regular inner practice and self-care.
At EPP we use the Enneagram system as a map of personality structures that helps us find our core self when we lose our way. We consider our teachers to be trustworthy guides. Knowing how to orient to this roadmap of personality allows us to navigate the complex inner terrain of ego, and remember where and who we actually are. Even a very good map is only as useful as our ability to stop and look at it, the knowledge to read it, and the presence of mind to recognize where we are to begin.
“EPP Guides are like having a trail leader on the journey with you who has been walking the path for years and is not only holding the map, but can provide to the group through the curriculum tools and their experience, a compass, and a satellite phone with GPS to assist the journey.”
–Dr. Heather Greenwald
Chief Psychologist Statewide Corrections Mental Health Program
–Dr. Heather Greenwald
Chief Psychologist Statewide Corrections Mental Health Program
WHAT IS THE GUIDE TRAINING PROGRAM (GTP)?
What is the Guide Training Program (GTP)?
One of EPP’s core values is that “We do the work together.” The Guide Training Program is about developing and bringing out your particular skills and gifts, as well as finding and working the edges where you are still developing. We want to both support you, and be assured of your capacity to effectively and compassionately guide our students with a co-guide, while simultaneously staying present to yourself.
The necessary pause of programming in prisons and jails during the global pandemic gave us the opportunity to reimagine our Guide Training Program (GTP). In order to grow future EPP Guides in a way that is sustainable, affordable, and accessible, we have envisioned a training that will develop a diverse and highly skilled team of people who are steeped in the ongoing work of self development, and committed to the vision of Enneagram Prison Project – freeing people all over the world from the prisons of our own making.
We believe that some of the best guides of the Enneagram system may very well be those who have yet-to-have-access to this tool. We have intentionally removed as many barriers to participating in our training program as possible, and continue to take steps to create a safe and inclusive space where everyone is invited to step in knowing that they belong.
EPP lives from our core values of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Access, and Belonging. Our new Guide Training Program invites people from all over the world to bring their unique life experience, skills and talents to support EPP’s mission and vision. We are normalizing diversity and intentionally creating spaces where people are invited to grow in their own self-understanding and to operate outside the binary. One way we do this is by removing all known and perceived barriers to promote stepping into the EPP Community with a deep sense of knowing that you have always belonged here.
The necessary pause of programming in prisons and jails during the global pandemic gave us the opportunity to reimagine our Guide Training Program (GTP). In order to grow future EPP Guides in a way that is sustainable, affordable, and accessible, we have envisioned a training that will develop a diverse and highly skilled team of people who are steeped in the ongoing work of self development, and committed to the vision of Enneagram Prison Project – freeing people all over the world from the prisons of our own making.
We believe that some of the best guides of the Enneagram system may very well be those who have yet-to-have-access to this tool. We have intentionally removed as many barriers to participating in our training program as possible, and continue to take steps to create a safe and inclusive space where everyone is invited to step in knowing that they belong.
EPP lives from our core values of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Access, and Belonging. Our new Guide Training Program invites people from all over the world to bring their unique life experience, skills and talents to support EPP’s mission and vision. We are normalizing diversity and intentionally creating spaces where people are invited to grow in their own self-understanding and to operate outside the binary. One way we do this is by removing all known and perceived barriers to promote stepping into the EPP Community with a deep sense of knowing that you have always belonged here.
GTP is a 68.5-hour training program.
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GUIDE SUPPORT
Guide Support
We cannot overstate the importance of growing and being in community when it comes to this work. EPP Guides are part of an ever-growing community of like-hearted people who strive to live into our core values both in and out of the EPP classroom. We meet weekly to “do the work together,” processing and bearing witness to what is alive in the students we are guiding by practicing staying present to ourselves.
SCHEDULE 2024
Schedule 2024
2024 EPP Guide Training Program Application Dates:
2024 EPP Guide Training Program Dates (GTP9):
Questions? Contact us at [email protected]
- Application deadline: May 31, 2024 (1 pm PT)
- In Person Interview Experience: June 27, 2024 (12 - 3 pm PT)
2024 EPP Guide Training Program Dates (GTP9):
- GTP9 Virtual Training
- Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 - 3 pm PT
- September 24 through November 7
- GTP9 In Person Practicum (in Bay Area of California)
- January 19 - 24, 2025
Questions? Contact us at [email protected]
More information about 9PrisonsONEKey (9P1K)
Pre-requirements: None
NOTE: Full participation in and completion of all coursework is required to be eligible for the Guide Training Program. This includes all self-guided work (LMS and recommended reading), as well as attendance and participation in all LIVE sessions.
Pre-requirements: None
NOTE: Full participation in and completion of all coursework is required to be eligible for the Guide Training Program. This includes all self-guided work (LMS and recommended reading), as well as attendance and participation in all LIVE sessions.
2. Path To Freedom (PtF)
Pre-requirements: 9PrisonsONEKey
NOTE: Full participation in and completion of all 9P1K coursework is required to be eligible for the Guide Training Program. This includes all self-guided work (LMS and reading), and attendance and participation in all LIVE sessions.
PtF includes the following four courses:
Navigating Our Territory
How We Develop
Addiction to Personality
Defenses & Reactivity
NOTE: Full participation in and completion of all 9P1K coursework is required to be eligible for the Guide Training Program. This includes all self-guided work (LMS and reading), and attendance and participation in all LIVE sessions.
PtF includes the following four courses:
Navigating Our Territory
How We Develop
Addiction to Personality
Defenses & Reactivity
3. Guide Training Program Application
Pre-Requirements:
Complete 9PrisonsONEKey (9P1K) and Path to Freedom (PtF)
Complete GTP Application
Begin Guide Training Program (GTP)
Complete 9PrisonsONEKey (9P1K) and Path to Freedom (PtF)
Complete GTP Application
Begin Guide Training Program (GTP)
4A. Guide Training Program
Pre-Requirements:
Completed 9PrisonsONEKey (9P1K)
Completed Path to Freedom (PtF)
GTP Application Acceptance
The Guide Training Program is a series of five virtual training courses and also includes a Practicum – a virtual space for discovery, learning, and practicing in community. You are assigned to a cohort of 15 students where you are acquainted more deeply with all of EPP’s programs. You also receive instruction on the philosophy and theory behind why and how we teach what we teach. Our GTP curriculum invites: an ongoing commitment to inner work; promotes the development of excellent facilitation skills (online and in person); develops Type recognition and exploration skills; instructs on the art of paneling; informs how to work within the correctional system; introduces addiction and trauma-informed practices; and highlights EPP’s compassionate approach to the Enneagram. Our five courses include:
Compassionate Community Building
Practicum Prep
Well-Being and Inner Work
Facilitation Skills
Art of Type Exploration and Paneling
Completed 9PrisonsONEKey (9P1K)
Completed Path to Freedom (PtF)
GTP Application Acceptance
The Guide Training Program is a series of five virtual training courses and also includes a Practicum – a virtual space for discovery, learning, and practicing in community. You are assigned to a cohort of 15 students where you are acquainted more deeply with all of EPP’s programs. You also receive instruction on the philosophy and theory behind why and how we teach what we teach. Our GTP curriculum invites: an ongoing commitment to inner work; promotes the development of excellent facilitation skills (online and in person); develops Type recognition and exploration skills; instructs on the art of paneling; informs how to work within the correctional system; introduces addiction and trauma-informed practices; and highlights EPP’s compassionate approach to the Enneagram. Our five courses include:
Compassionate Community Building
Practicum Prep
Well-Being and Inner Work
Facilitation Skills
Art of Type Exploration and Paneling
4B. Guide Training Practicum
Course by course, you are invited to exercise your guiding skills and practice your understanding of the GTP content in the Practicum, a virtual space for discovery, learning, and practicing in community. In the Practicum, you will try out the curriculum in a safe and supported space alongside fellow EPP Guides, Faculty, and Ambassadors. The Practicum is a place where you are supported and encouraged to release the things that are not “working”, and establish comfort with the material and the role of guiding. As a GTP Student, you will be given real-time, loving, and constructive feedback whilst growing into our core value of “We do the work together.”
5. GTP & Apprenticeship Placement XP Circles
XP Circles review a student’s progress and determine XP (experience) for satisfactory completion of that course or apprenticeship.
In this case, the GTP & Apprenticeship Placement XP Circle determines XP (experience) for completion of GTP and readiness for an apprenticeship. To pass through this gateway, EPP requires an assessment of your capacity to fluently deliver the essential elements of EPP’s curriculum while skillfully facilitating in a virtual classroom.
After meeting a minimum of 15 practice session hours in the Practicum, you will complete a self-observation rubric, request observation rubrics from two EPP Guides, and work with faculty to provide a series of recorded videos of you practicing in the Practicum to the GTP XP Circle. After review and with a favorable result, the GTP XP Circle confirms you have completed GTP and are ready to be placed by the Apprenticeship Placement XP Circle.
The Apprenticeship Placement XP Circle considers availability and overall fit and will work with you to confirm a virtual in-custody, in-person in-custody, virtual 9PrisonsONEKey or virtual Path to Freedom Apprenticeship.
Public Programs Virtual Apprenticeship
Pre-Requirements:
Completion of all GTP Courses
Placement by Apprenticeship Placement XP Circle You will transition into a Public Programs Virtual Apprenticeship where you will gain experience (XP) delivering EPP’s curriculum in our virtual classrooms by co-guiding in 9PrisonsONEKey and/or Path to Freedom courses with the mentorship and support of EPP Lead Guides.
In-Custody Virtual Apprenticeship
Pre-Requirements:
Completion of all GTP Courses
Placement by Apprenticeship Placement XP Circle You will transition into an In-Custody Virtual Apprenticeship where you will gain experience (XP) delivering EPP’s 8-module “Freedom Beyond Bars” curriculum via zoom as a Co-Guide and with the mentorship and support of an EPP Lead Guide. EPP’s In-Custody Virtual programs vary in length depending on the facility. You will receive feedback from your EPP Lead Guide and any other participating Co-Guide throughout your apprenticeship.
In-Custody In-Person Apprenticeship
Pre-Requirements:
Completion of all GTP Courses
Placement by Apprenticeship Placement XP Circle You will transition into an In-Custody In-Person Apprenticeship where you will gain experience (XP) delivering EPP’s 8-module “Freedom Beyond Bars” curriculum in a designated jail/prison as a Co-Guide and with the mentorship and support of an EPP Lead Guide. EPP’s In-Custody programs vary in length depending on the facility. You will receive feedback from your EPP Lead Guide and any other participating Co-Guide throughout your apprenticeship.
In this case, the GTP & Apprenticeship Placement XP Circle determines XP (experience) for completion of GTP and readiness for an apprenticeship. To pass through this gateway, EPP requires an assessment of your capacity to fluently deliver the essential elements of EPP’s curriculum while skillfully facilitating in a virtual classroom.
After meeting a minimum of 15 practice session hours in the Practicum, you will complete a self-observation rubric, request observation rubrics from two EPP Guides, and work with faculty to provide a series of recorded videos of you practicing in the Practicum to the GTP XP Circle. After review and with a favorable result, the GTP XP Circle confirms you have completed GTP and are ready to be placed by the Apprenticeship Placement XP Circle.
The Apprenticeship Placement XP Circle considers availability and overall fit and will work with you to confirm a virtual in-custody, in-person in-custody, virtual 9PrisonsONEKey or virtual Path to Freedom Apprenticeship.
Public Programs Virtual Apprenticeship
Pre-Requirements:
Completion of all GTP Courses
Placement by Apprenticeship Placement XP Circle You will transition into a Public Programs Virtual Apprenticeship where you will gain experience (XP) delivering EPP’s curriculum in our virtual classrooms by co-guiding in 9PrisonsONEKey and/or Path to Freedom courses with the mentorship and support of EPP Lead Guides.
In-Custody Virtual Apprenticeship
Pre-Requirements:
Completion of all GTP Courses
Placement by Apprenticeship Placement XP Circle You will transition into an In-Custody Virtual Apprenticeship where you will gain experience (XP) delivering EPP’s 8-module “Freedom Beyond Bars” curriculum via zoom as a Co-Guide and with the mentorship and support of an EPP Lead Guide. EPP’s In-Custody Virtual programs vary in length depending on the facility. You will receive feedback from your EPP Lead Guide and any other participating Co-Guide throughout your apprenticeship.
In-Custody In-Person Apprenticeship
Pre-Requirements:
Completion of all GTP Courses
Placement by Apprenticeship Placement XP Circle You will transition into an In-Custody In-Person Apprenticeship where you will gain experience (XP) delivering EPP’s 8-module “Freedom Beyond Bars” curriculum in a designated jail/prison as a Co-Guide and with the mentorship and support of an EPP Lead Guide. EPP’s In-Custody programs vary in length depending on the facility. You will receive feedback from your EPP Lead Guide and any other participating Co-Guide throughout your apprenticeship.
6. Public Programs Virtual, In-Custody Virtual, and/or In-Custody In-Person XP Circle
XP Circles review Apprentice’s progress and determine XP (experience) for satisfactory completion of that course or apprenticeship.
In this case, the related XP Circle will determine XP (experience) for the apprenticeship.
In this case, the related XP Circle will determine XP (experience) for the apprenticeship.
7. EPP Guide Designation
EPP Guides are eligible to be hired and paid as consultants to deliver the programs they successfully apprenticed in as Public Program Virtual Guides (or 9P1K Guides/PtF Guides), In-Custody Virtual Guides, and/or In-Custody In-Person Guides. Guides can work in additional programs by completing the relevant apprenticeship or working with the appropriate XP Circle. Additional training programs for educational and organizational settings are currently being developed.
OUR FACULTY
Our Faculty
Susan Olesek
Susanne Gawreluk
Dana Vitorelo
Phil GebbenGreen
Susan Olesek
Faculty: Susan Olesek / EPP Founder
Susan Olesek was born outside of Boston, schooled in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and England, and obtained a B.A. in sociology from Occidental College. She is certified by two Enneagram training schools: Palmer-Daniels and Riso-Hudson. |
In 2009, shortly after her first certification, Susan was invited to a little Texas prison to teach the Enneagram to about one hundred incarcerated men who were in an entrepreneurship program. She witnessed profound changes in these men and their inspiring ability to articulate insights. This immensely practical use of the Enneagram system inspired Susan and changed the trajectory of her personal and professional life forever. In 2012 she founded Enneagram Prison Project (EPP) in order to bring this self-awareness training tool to more of the population that seemed to need it the most. Today, Enneagram Prison Project is a burgeoning, paradigm- shifting model of self-awareness education for the incarcerated spreading across the globe. Susan no longer feels that she is growing the project, but rather that EPP is growing her.
Susan is an unapologetic idealist, a “Human Potentialist” and social entrepreneur in pursuit of what’s possible for all people when they get to know themselves. She lives in the Santa Cruz mountains with her three children and her husband, Rick, EPP’s Executive Director and her “steady seven.”
EPP – GTP Faculty
Susan is an unapologetic idealist, a “Human Potentialist” and social entrepreneur in pursuit of what’s possible for all people when they get to know themselves. She lives in the Santa Cruz mountains with her three children and her husband, Rick, EPP’s Executive Director and her “steady seven.”
EPP – GTP Faculty
Susanne Gawreluk
To support Enneagram community awareness, Susanne became the MN-IEA outreach chair in 2015 and co-taught weekly Enneagram classes at Shakopee Women’s prison. In 2017, she desired curriculum support, the universe aligned, and she discovered Enneagram Prison Project (EPP). She became a certified EPP Guide and founded EPP-MN as Chapter Leader in 2018. As EPP Faculty, Susanne loves supporting new guides, curriculum development and global growth. Susanne’s Type 4 depth appreciates how EPP wraps the Enneagram in unconditional positive regard from our guides to our students inside the world of corrections. Frankly, this is hard enough to imagine in the outside world! The best day of my week is the day I get to be a Guide in prison. To support the awakening of light in fellow human beings that are living in the darkest of places is to witness true transformation. What an honor it is to be part of EPP!
As a WellBEing consultant since 1999, Susanne integrates the art & science of medical massage, spiritual direction, and energy healing in private practice. When not shoveling snow, she enjoys her better half, Mike, their two adult children, and two cats. Creating art, laughing with close friends, and sipping chai tea recharges her batteries.
As a WellBEing consultant since 1999, Susanne integrates the art & science of medical massage, spiritual direction, and energy healing in private practice. When not shoveling snow, she enjoys her better half, Mike, their two adult children, and two cats. Creating art, laughing with close friends, and sipping chai tea recharges her batteries.
Dana Vitorelo
Faculty: Dana Vitorelo
Dana Vitorelo was born and raised in the Bay Area, CA. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from Chapman University and M.A. in Depth Psychology from Sonoma State University. Dana is dual certified through The Narrative Enneagram and is an IEA Accredited Professional. |
At her first Enneagram training in 2015, Dana had the pleasure of meeting and promptly falling in love with O.G. Enneagram Prison Project Ambassadors Alex Senegal and Victor Soto. With their encouragement, she applied for EPP’s first pilot training inside Santa Clara’s Elmwood jail and instantly felt at home with the men in class. She found her people and her calling during that pilot training. Dana is now a Master Guide and Faculty member with EPP. Through this work, she is reminded daily of the sacredness and suffering that we all experience as part of the human condition.
As a Type Six Dana finds immense joy in holding space for, supporting, and loving deeply those yearning to find a way back home to themselves. She is honored and humbled to be part of a collective where the work of choice is to intentionally and continuously wake up to the inherent preciousness, perfection, and wisdom that is already living within each of us. Dana currently lives in the North Bay with her dog Sophia and cat Bast. In her free time she is hanging out with family, stuffing her mind with new information, or simply enjoying solitude.
As a Type Six Dana finds immense joy in holding space for, supporting, and loving deeply those yearning to find a way back home to themselves. She is honored and humbled to be part of a collective where the work of choice is to intentionally and continuously wake up to the inherent preciousness, perfection, and wisdom that is already living within each of us. Dana currently lives in the North Bay with her dog Sophia and cat Bast. In her free time she is hanging out with family, stuffing her mind with new information, or simply enjoying solitude.
Phil GebbenGreen
Faculty: Phil GebbenGreen
Phil GebbenGreen has lived around the United States in Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon, California, and now Minnesota, receiving a B.A. in English from Calvin College and an M.Div. from San Francisco Theological Seminary. Phil has studied primarily with the Riso-Hudson school and is an IEA Accredited Professional. |
After mis-typing himself as a Type Nine for eleven years, Phil discovered his real home base in Type Eight and renewed his passion for Enneagram study and work. Mostly through the delight and challenges of raising three children, he experienced the softness and connection that come from his gentler, more innocent self. In late 2017, Phil heard a presentation by Susan Olesek and immediately applied to be a Guide with Enneagram Prison Project (EPP), finishing his training and apprenticeship by mid-2018, helping to found the Minnesota Chapter of EPP, and joining the EPP Faculty later that year. Phil loves working with the women of Shakopee Women’s Prison in Minnesota, loves teaching new EPP Guides, and loves the way EPP brings together his passions for transformation and learning and healing for everyone everywhere.
When he is not working with EPP, Phil is a Presbyterian co-pastor with his wife, Julie, who together are learning from their three teenagers in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
When he is not working with EPP, Phil is a Presbyterian co-pastor with his wife, Julie, who together are learning from their three teenagers in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Please visit our public programs page for an overview of the pathway to GTP.
TUITION
Tuition
$5000 plus travel expenses to Practicum in California:
- $2500 for GTP 9 Virtual Training (Sept - Nov 2024)
- $2500 for GTP 9 Practicum (January 2025)
"I'm proud to support this well crafted and determined outreach to the incarcerated. Susan Olesek and now the Enneagram Prison Project brings the spiritual quality of Truth in Action to this necessary and forward-looking Enneagram public-education program."
Helen Palmer
Author and Teacher
Author and Teacher
Next StepsTo begin the journey to becoming an EPP Guide, enroll in our public program 9PrisonsONEKey today.
Thank you for knowing that you belong! |