• Be direct and clear
• Listen to them carefully
• Don't judge them for their anxiety
• Work things through with them
• Reassure them that everything is OK between you two
• Laugh and make jokes with them
• Gently push them to experience new things
• Try not to overreact to their overreacting

What's good about being a Six

• they are committed and faithful to family and friends
• they are responsible and hardworking
• they are compassionate to others
• they have intellect and wit
• they are non conformists confronting danger bravely
• they are direct and assertive

What's difficult about being a Six

• they may have a constant push and pull to make up their minds
• they procrastinate because of fear of failure, have little confidence
• they fear abandonment and being taken advantage of
• they exhaust themselves by worrying and scanning for danger
• they are too critical of themselves, phobic-think the worst is yet to come

Sixes as Children

• are anxious and hypervigilant
• are friendly, likable and dependable and/or stubborn, bossy and sarcastic
• form a team of us against them with a best friend or parent
• look to groups or authorities to protect them/or question authority and rebel
• are neglected or abused from alcoholic families or take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent

Sixes as Parents

• are often loving, nurturing and have strong sense of duty
• are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence
• worry more than most that their children will get hurt
• sometimes have trouble saying no or setting boundaries

Source: Adapted from Riso, Don Richard with Russ Hudson, Personality Types:Using the Enneagram for Self Discovery,1996. Houghton Mifflin and Baron, Renee and Elizabeth Wagele, The Enneagram Made Easy, 1994, Harper Collins