It is not just a numbers game; rather, it is another way of examining the self and how it relates to other people’s selves, all while incorporating faith-based discussions along the way.

Carter County Drug Prevention Director Jilian Reece said a friend of hers first introduced her to the “Enneagram Journey” when she started identifying people as ones or fours or sevens.

“I saw the way she knows me,” Reece said. “She recognizes we think of things differently.”

From there, once she learned more about it, Reece said she decided to create a three-month, 12-course curriculum for members of the Elizabethton/Carter County community to experience as well.

At its core, the Enneagram system is a personality test akin to the Myers-Briggs, in which test-takers are given a number, one through nine, that corresponds to a dominant personality type.

“For example, I am a two, which means I am a helper,” she said.

Unlike other tests of this kind, however, the Enneagram works to use these numbers to explain their relationships with each other.

“For me, God created us all different,” Reece said. “If I want to serve the community the best I can, I have to understand where my talents lie.”

Reece’s 12-course curriculum will begin Wednesday evening, Sept. 25, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. She said the public interest has been so positive, they had to move it to the library.

“You can think of it as a Bible study,” she said. “How can I serve God with the skills I have?”

She said studying how different numbers interact, or do not interact, is important in any relationship, whether it be in marriage, the workplace or merely in friendships.

“We all have relationships,” Reece said. “We have to learn to navigate them, and there is a benefit in investigating them.”

The entire curriculum costs $60 a person, and though participants can choose to sign up later in the three-month program, she said it would be more beneficial to participate from start to finish.

“We will have workbooks and refreshments each week,” Reece said. “Each week we will expand on what we learn.”

For more information on the curriculum, contact Reece at 423-342-8008 or by looking up the Enneagram at www.theenneagramjourney.org.