Enneagram Prison Project In-Custody Self-Awareness Training Program

An Invitation to Compassionate Self-Study

EPP offers group-facilitated programs for incarcerated people. Our programs range from introductory 8 to 20-week programs to advanced studies. Drawing on the narrative tradition, our students learn to find their own voices, articulate newfound self-awareness, and demonstrate life-changing insights. Enneagram Prison Project holds a space in which those who have been incarcerated can begin to understand themselves with more clarity and lead lives of greater self-awareness and compassion.

Our program is designed to help individuals navigate those unconscious cognitive, emotional, and behavioral patterns which underlie virtually everything we do. We use the Enneagram system much like a map of ego structures, and consider our teachers to be helpful guides who support students in navigating their own inner terrain. We reflect the light we see in people back to them and, in doing so, illuminate new paths they can reliably follow. We empower people to find their way back to their own innate intelligence and wisdom t0 remember their best selves.

Planning for Reconnecting

EPP delivers in-custody programming with the strong intention of being a safe place for our participants to land when they are released from jails and prisons. In addition, we have wrap-around services for the formerly incarcerated to continue to stay in the work during the fragile period of reentering society and beyond.

Specifically, EPP offers the following online and in person support for past participants and their loved ones:

Bridges Program
Ambassadors In Mentorship (AIM) Program
Reconnecting - Weekly Virtual Program
The CONNECT - Weekly Virtual Program
Enneagram Inside Out (EIO) | Belmont, CA (in Person Program)
EPP’s Public Programs: 9PrisonsONEKey (9P1K) & Path to Freedom (PtF)
Certified Life Coach | The Human Potentialists (THP)

By offering programs like those listed above we aim to create a supportive community and empower individuals with the tools they need for successful reentry and personal transformation.

For more information, please reach out to us at [email protected]

Meet EPP Ambassador Alex Senegal

Since his release in 2015, EPP Ambassador and Board member Alex Senegal has been determined to return to those who are behind bars as an inspiration and exemplar of the work. In August of 2018, he did just that…this time through the front gate of San Quentin. EPP was there to capture this triumphant moment in this short film.

Click on the bars below to reveal more course details...

Our program curriculum

Our Materials

Our curriculum is beautifully illustrated in a full-color, 220 page workbook which we provide to all of our students to keep.

EPP Curriculum is also translated into French. See our international France | Belgium Community for more info...

In addition to providing our students with their own EPP Workbooks, Enneagram Prison Project loans in-custody students a copy of The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Riso and Hudson, which we use as our primary textbook. The Wisdom of the Enneagram fuses psychology and spirituality, offers a formative vision of human possibility, and a clear map of the nine paths to our highest self-expression. The book contains two highly accurate questionnaires for determining personality type, and vivid individual profiles.

It also features "Spiritual Jump Starts," "Wake-up Calls," and "Red Flags" for each type, as well as dozens of individualized exercises and practical strategies for letting go of troublesome habits, improving relationships, and increasing inner freedom.

Redefining and De-shaming Addiction
One of EPP's Core Curriculum Components

"When we first started to teach in-custody students, we quickly noticed that the vast majority were struggling with addiction of some kind. Indeed, over 90% of our in-custody students in Santa Clara, California are in for drug-related offenses. That means people are using or selling in order to support a habit, but it isn't the drugs that are the problem.

We all suffer in the ways that we are addicted to our personality.

"Our personality is our first drug of choice, our attempt to feel okay inside of ourselves. The way in which we distract ourselves from the pain of just being human has a pattern and there's dopamine hit wired right into our type structure. So, if I'm a Type One and I am stressed, I may unconsciously want to distract myself from the emotional pain of feeling that I am not good enough by doing something I feel righteous about, or pointing out someone else's flaws. If I am a Type Eight I might find something (or someone!) that I can push against. These type-specific behaviors can make us feel better, for a minute, but just like a drug of choice, we will require another "hit" once that last thing wears off..."

–Susan Olesek
EPP Founder

The work of dr. Gabor Maté

EPP's Advisory Board member Dr. Gabor Maté brings his compassionate approach to addiction to the men on the inside.

A renowned speaker, and bestselling author, Dr. Gabor Maté is one of EPP's distinguished Advisory Board Members. Dr. Mate is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction, stress, and childhood development. Rather than offering quick-fix solutions to these complex issues, Dr. Maté weaves together scientific research, case histories, and his own insights and experience to present a broad perspective that enlightens and empowers people to promote their own healing, as well as the healing of those around them.

"It's not the addiction that's the problem, it's a person's attempt to solve a problem that started in childhood. The real question is not why the addiction, the real question is why the pain?"

- Dr. Gabor Maté, EPP Advisory Board Member

Not every story has a happy ending, but the discoveries of science, the teachings of the heart, and the revelations of the soul, all assure us that no human being is ever beyond redemption. The possibility of renewal exist so long as life exists."

–Dr. Gabor Maté
from: In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction

Our program format

Our program is led by two trained EPP guides who deliver eight modules using both lectures and group-led discussions, as well as program activities including meditation/centering practices and personality type panels (using a teaching method known as the Narrative Tradition). Program completion and graduate certification is contingent on completion of each module's homework assignments.

what is the enneagram?

The Enneagram is a psychological system, pronounced “ANY-a-gram.” Though ancient in origin, the Enneagram is rooted in modern day psychology and provides a very specific “map” to recognize the strategies people have unconsciously used to survive.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ENNEAGRAM

To bring the EPP program into your institution...

For more information on our In-Custody Self-Awareness Training Program please contact us.

What Facilities are Saying About our Program

"Having seen men and women begin without any previous knowledge or experience of the Enneagram and seeing them several years later, they're the ones who reveal what it has done to them and you cannot take that away from somebody once they have that knowledge, once they have that tool it is their as it should be for all of us. But the gratefulness that they have for understanding the reasons why they do what they do is very powerful for them. Some of the men and women say it is the first time they have ever understood that. It does not take away personal responsibility for the crimes they committed, but if they are unaware of their role in those choices and those cause and effect situations, how are we going to expect them not to return."

-Dr. Melissa Wagner
San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, Corrections Division Program Services Manager II

"Soon after the EPP program was offered, I saw it quickly became the most requested, popular and discussed elective offered within Elmwood's Regimented Correctional Program (RCP). I very much believe that EPP's success lies in providing inmates a unique opportunity to learn about their own behaviour and motivation...EPP's dedication comes from their passion to provide the material to a population that urgently needs it. EPP is able to connect with inmates in a deeply individual manner, classmates who have completed the class feel safe to discuss personal matters with one another that in turn continue to reveal insights into themselves, for this to happen in a custody setting is significant."

-Winston Chew, Rehabilitation Officer Program Unit, Santa Clara County Office of the Sheriff

"...this class, like no other, appears to bring a level of self-acceptance and inner peace to the inmates. This is significant because many inmates are overwhelmed by shame and guilt an desperately seek to avoid reviewing their behaviors... I have seen inmates respond with relief and hope to information about how to self-manage, and as a rule, the in-custody behavior of the participants improves noticeably."

-Jennie Brook, Rehabilitation Officer, Santa Clara County Office of the Sheriff

"Enrollment in each EPP class is high. The class is sought after by all incarcerated inmates. Several success stories are reported of Enneagram students who have embarked on a journey of recovery after breaking a long-term pattern of recidivating. The inmate students attribute their success to their participation in the Enneagram class and the support that they receive from the Enneagram community after incarceration. It has been my honor to work with the Enneagram staff and the founder of the Enneagram Prison Project, Susan Olesek. Their professionalism and passion to serve humanity are exemplary."

-Neelam Wadhwani, Retired Inmate Rehabilitation Program Manager, Office of the Sheriff, Santa Clara County

Testamonial From a Mental Health Professional

"I have had the opportunity to observe the EPP program; its method, content, and the people involved. I am beyond impressed. Having interacted with the inmates in the program as well, the transformations are evident and the people are walking endorsements; living and breathing examples of the value of the program and its people’s consistency, seriousness, constancy, ethical boundaries, and purposeful, intentional work. In one such class I observed the inmates in session. They displayed a level of self-reflection and expression of depth and breadth of understanding that is difficult to attain. After the inmates' presentations, the EPP volunteers/guides would remind the inmate that it was his hard work that brought him to this new place of understanding.

That was true. But, what also seemed apparent was another truth in the room: the inmates wouldn’t likely have gotten there, to that place of personal responsibility, without EPP. And indeed that is what the inmates said about the program. They needed the tools to do the work and the person to show them how. The credit goes to the inmate who courageously works on self-examination and personal responsibility to achieve transformation and to the amazing program and people who make it possible inside prison walls. The EPP program, from the founder to the ambassadors to the guides I have met, are nothing short of extraordinary. We eagerly await their expansion into our prison.”

- Dr. Heather Greenwald
Chief Psychologist Statewide Corrections Mental Health Program

What Students are Saying About our Program

Alex Senegal
EPP Ambassador

"The Enneagram introduced Alex to Alex. It introduced me to my true self, my true nature, to my being. Through the Enneagram I was introduced to how I would operate out of survival mode, I really thought that was just who I was, who I just had to be. My true nature in my environment, that person I don’t think could have survived. I know in my belief system, the person who I truly am, the kind, compassionate, patient, considerate, thoughtful individual, I thought that person was weak and would be laughed at and rejected. So I couldn’t be him for sure. So I put on the mask and created the personality that I believe was going to help me survive my environment."

"The Enneagram Prison Project has provided me with valuable insight into my inner workings (nee personality) which has, in turn, illuminated the dark alleys of my mind that have previously led to dead ends when it came to understanding what drives my addiction and therefore my criminality. I cannot stress enough how valuable and liberating this is.

The structure and setting provided by the EPP coupled with a highly trained facilitator creates an environment previously unheard of (at least by myself): an atmosphere where hardened men feel comfortable and free enough to not only learn about themselves, but to talk about this experience as well. This is huge."

Jeff Limon
EPP Ambassador

Clay Tumey
EPP Ambassador

"Susan is like a gang leader she is respected, tough. She says things firmly, but with a lot of heart - in the vein of "sorry if you don't like that, but that is what we need to make this class work”.

She is direct yet angelic. The class is a big emotional commitment for the students, they wonder, "am I going to be safe? How am I going to share with these other people?”

Susan is brilliant at creating an honest, open, un-intimidating and safe space and as a result the students learn to realize that the more you trust yourself, the more trustworthy you are."

To bring the EPP program into your institution...

Learn More About EPP's Impact

For more information on our In-Custody Self-Awareness Training Program please contact us.

Are you interested in becoming an EPP Guide?

EPP is an IEA certified school and our online public programs are the first step to becoming a paid EPP guide.

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What is it like to become an EPP Guide?