Discover Your Instinctual Stack, with Elan Benami, EnneaApp Creator

Typology

Ian Morgan Cron

Enneagram4, Enneagram5, Personality, Religion & Spirituality, To, Artist, Psychology, Awareness, Cron, Spirituality, Enneagram6, Type, Morgan, Suzzane, Enneagram8, Enneagram3, Speaker, Theology, Self, Enneagram2, Author, Christian, Enneagram1, You, Journey, Relationships, Christianity, Enneagram7, Road, Enneagram9, Business, Coach, Stabile, Teacher, Typology, Health & Fitness, Enneagram, Mccord, Parenting, Discovery, Help, Bible, Ian, Back

4.6 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What is an Instinctual Stack? Do you know yours? We all have three instincts. None of us are absent one. However, one does tend to be dominant. But what are instincts and how do they influence how each type shows up in the world?

In today’s episode, we revisit our conversation with Elan Benami, creator of the EnneaApp and author of Enneagram Patterns & Poetics, to provide you with a great overview of Instincts, Subtypes, and the Instinctual Stack and how they can play out in your personal and professional life.

About Elan:

Elan is an LPC with a MA in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology and BA in Philosophy. In addition to his own private counseling practice, Elan is the Clinical Director of People House - a non-profit that provides affordable counseling in Colorado.

Elan was introduced to the Enneagram in 2008 by his first therapist. He then did intense studying with Lori Ohlson, who was his supervisor. Claudio Naranjo was Lori's primary teacher, so there is a deep kinship with his work. Other major Enneagram teachers who have shaped Elan include Helen Palmer, Russ Hudson, Don Riso, and Sandra Maitri.

Elan and Lori Ohlson have co-facilitated many Enneagram classes/workshops, most of them in the narrative tradition. Through Lori’s Enneagram material (of over 25 years of teaching the Enneagram), Elan created the EnneaApp, initially for the purpose of having something to quickly reference between sessions. Through the years, he has adapted the content to be more reflective of his own experience while also preserving Lori’s lineage. The app has over 1.5 million downloads.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey folks and welcome to Typology, the show on which we explore the mystery of the human
0:09.2	personality and the human adventure all through the lens of the Enigram.
0:13.6	My name is Anthony Skinner, your producer and co-host.
0:16.5	So happy to have you here.
0:17.6	Listen, we've got a great episode for you today. We're revisiting one of our most popular episodes. It's a conversation with Elon Benami co-creator of the ENIA app. If you haven't checked out the ENIA app yet, you really should. It's one of the best quick reference guides out there for all things Enigram. Pract practical, insightful, and easy to use. Just search
0:38.3	E-N-N-E-A-P-N-E-A-P, any app, wherever you get your apps.
0:43.2	Elon is an LPC with a master's in trans-personal counseling psychology and a background in philosophy.
0:51.5	In this conversation, he and Ian dive deep into instincts and subtype stacks.
0:56.5	And that's why we wanted to re-release this episode. It's so helpful, instincts and subtypes.
1:02.8	If you know your number, but you don't know your subtype or instinct, this episode is for you.
1:08.2	So it's a topic that so many of you have asked for more clarity on.
1:12.4	That's why we want to give it to you now.
1:15.2	So whether you're new to the Enneagram or you've been studying it for years, you'll love this episode.
1:20.8	That's it for me, Anthony Skinner.
1:22.5	And now here is the host of our show, Ian Kron.
1:32.9	Thank you. Here is the host of our show, Ian Cron. Hey, Typology, Tribe.
1:34.8	I am so excited today to bring to you my new friend, Ilan Banami.
1:40.5	He is an anagram six with a seven-wing.
1:42.9	He is author of the new book, Enneagram Patterns and Poetics, a guide to understanding personality,
1:49.3	and he is the designer-maker, the brains behind the Ennea app, which I know many, many of you have.
1:57.5	Elon, welcome to Typology.
1:59.8	Thanks for having me.
	...

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