Michael Shahan - LMFT

Michael Shahan - LMFT Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Trauma and Enneagram focused. Always healing; Already whole.

Are you a therapist, coach, social worker, or another mental health professional who works one-on-one with clients? For ...
07/21/2025

Are you a therapist, coach, social worker, or another mental health professional who works one-on-one with clients? For the first time, I’m hosting a mini-version of my Enneagram in Practice Course this November.

Historically, this course has been twice as long and twice as expensive. But, this November, I’m trying something new!

If you’re a professional who has a basic understanding of the Enneagram and wants to jump right to the chase of how to integrate more advanced Enneagram topics in your day-to-day practice, this is your shot.

This group will meet for three consecutive Tuesdays over Zoom. Each session will be an hour of teaching, and an hour of personalized coaching in which we break down real life examples and scenarios from your own practice.

Early bird pricing is available for a limited time! DM me with any questions you have.

In honor of the long weekend, here are some ideas for your automatic out-of-office replies! (Or maybe just keep it simpl...
07/04/2025

In honor of the long weekend, here are some ideas for your automatic out-of-office replies! (Or maybe just keep it simple with an “Out of office. I’ll be back Monday.”)

Not all wounds are visible. But they shape everything.How we show up in relationships.How we protect ourselves from pain...
07/03/2025

Not all wounds are visible. But they shape everything.
How we show up in relationships.
How we protect ourselves from pain.
How we learned to survive.

If this image made you feel seen, you’re not alone.
The Enneagram helps name the patterns we’ve developed to cope, not to shame them, but to understand them.

And when we understand them, we can begin to soften them.
We can start healing from a place of compassion, not critique.

You’re not broken.
You’re human.
And you don’t have to navigate this alone.

If you’re ready to go deeper, check out The Embodied Enneagram: A Guided Meditation Series. Or, talk to a therapist who is Enneagram and trauma-informed. These are powerful places to start reconnecting with the truest version of you.

What if your Enneagram journey didn’t stop at understanding your number……but helped you feel your way into balance, clar...
07/01/2025

What if your Enneagram journey didn’t stop at understanding your number…
…but helped you feel your way into balance, clarity, and compassion?
The Embodied Enneagram is a guided meditation series designed to help you connect with the essential quality of each Enneagram type—not just your own, but all nine.

9 video meditations
Access the parts of you you’ve hidden or ignored
Build empathy for how others experience the world
Center yourself through body, heart, and mind

Whether you’re longing for the boldness of an 8, the groundedness of a 9, or the tenderness of a 2, it’s already in you. This series helps you remember.

👉 Buy the full bundle (link in bio) or grab the type you’re most curious about.

Bringing this concept back from last year! There’s a theory within the known as the “passion” or “deadly sin” of each ...
06/30/2025

Bringing this concept back from last year! There’s a theory within the known as the “passion” or “deadly sin” of each number. The idea is, that each Enneagram number is desperately trying to find their way back to an “essential quality” that they lost touch with at some point in their life. So, they develop a coping mechanism to try and claw their way back to that essential quality.

That coping mechanism becomes the person’s passion/deadly sin. It’s called a deadly sin because it doesn’t really help you get to the place you want to be. Instead, it’s sort of a solution in disguise - instead of actually solving your problem, it keeps you stuck in behavior patterns that aren’t serving you.

I have a theory that the more your pattern is showing up in your life in a really intense or obvious way, the more you’re suffering internally (and probably causing people around you to suffer as well).

It makes sense, right? The more you’re suffering internally, the more you need to cope with the pain with your defense mechanisms.

Do you have examples of how your number’s “deadly sin” has shown up in your life in subtle or obvious ways? Is it keeping you in suffering that you’re ready to let go of? Let me know in the comments.

PS: My entire Embodied Enneagram: A Guided Meditation Series was created around this idea of returning to our essential qualities. You can access that through the l!nk in you know where!

💀 🫠
06/29/2025

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We’re all wounded in different ways.Some of us learned we had to be perfect to be loved.Some of us became helpers so we ...
06/28/2025

We’re all wounded in different ways.
Some of us learned we had to be perfect to be loved.
Some of us became helpers so we wouldn’t be left.
Some of us wore achievement like armor.
Some of us carried our pain like proof we mattered.
Some of us disappeared into our heads because the world felt too much.
Some of us never stopped scanning for danger.
Some of us ran from sadness and called it joy.
Some of us stayed strong so no one could hurt us.
Some of us kept the peace by giving ourselves away.
These patterns aren’t random—they’re responses.
They’re shaped by our early attachment experiences.
By what was too much.
By what was never enough.
By who we had to become to feel safe, loved, and accepted.
The Enneagram doesn’t pathologize these responses. It helps us name them.
And through that naming, it offers us a way home.
Because here’s the truth:
You are not broken.
You are already whole.
These wounds you carry—they don’t disqualify you from healing.
They are the doorway to it.
Healing isn’t about becoming someone else.
It’s about remembering who you were before the world told you who you had to be.
And sometimes we need help seeing that version of ourselves again.
Not because we’re weak—but because healing was never meant to be a solo journey.

If you’re ready to explore your Enneagram type through the lens of compassion, embodiment, and emotional truth, check out The Embodied Enneagram: A Guided Meditation Series.
You are not too far gone.
You’re right on time.

Many of you saw my recent post about healing phrases each number needs to hear ❤️‍🩹 If you’re interested in a more ext...
06/26/2025

Many of you saw my recent post about healing phrases each number needs to hear ❤️‍🩹 If you’re interested in a more extensive list, I have one ready for free download! Follow the link in my bio to receive your free PDF with 10 healing phrases each Enneagram number needs to hear.

This can be a powerful tool for self-compassion, and for developing deeper understanding and learning how to encourage other people in your life. If you’re an Enneagram-informed therapist, I find this a great place to start with some of my clients!

If you download the PDF, let me know what you think about it!

Just dropping in with a little repost for those of you who needed a reminder or missed it the first time! What does your...
06/26/2025

Just dropping in with a little repost for those of you who needed a reminder or missed it the first time!

What does your villain era look like?

Why It Matters When Your Therapist Understands the Enneagram(And why it might change the way you see yourself—for good.)...
06/25/2025

Why It Matters When Your Therapist Understands the Enneagram
(And why it might change the way you see yourself—for good.) Drop your questions about the Enneagram and therapy in the comments!

Anyone else feel this?
06/24/2025

Anyone else feel this?

Therapy and growth work isn’t about “fixing” someone who is “broken.” It’s about helping people discover that they are a...
06/23/2025

Therapy and growth work isn’t about “fixing” someone who is “broken.” It’s about helping people discover that they are already whole inside of themselves. It’s about finally hearing what your inner child, anxious brain, or over-functioning nervous system needed all along.

Read through these phrases that have actual healing power for each Enneagram number. How does your number’s phrase sit with you? Do you have someone in your life who needs to hear one of these phrases? If you’re a therapist or mental health professional, would any of these be a good addition to your toolbox?

These phrases aren’t the only ones with healing power. Comment the word “heal” below and I’ll send you a list of 10 healing phrases for each Enneagram number. 💟

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