March 2026

My old article from 5 years ago is here: “False” needs? Enneagram and NVC. I’ve now used AI to flesh out my thinking, and this is the result. NVC treats needs as always valid, which is correct – at the core level. But Enneagram adds the idea that for each type, there’s usually: The relief […]

Maps NVC with Jaak Panksepp’s emotions taxonomy, and Sarah Peyton’s work on the Seeking circuit, and Tracy Baker-Lawrence’s work on enneagram pathways. I’ve come to understand conflict as something that begins when one of the three core aversive emotions common to all mammals is triggered: fear, anger, or distress. In Jaak Panksepp’s affective neuroscience research