Question: What is the difference between Tritype® and Trifix®?

Katherine: I taught 3Types, TriCenter, and Trigrams from 1994-1996. From 1997-2007 I taught all of my work as Trifix. In 2007, I renamed all of my work from 1994-2007 to the present as Tritype®.

1994 3Types
In 1994, after nine years of teaching the Enneagram, I began my qualitative research studies on the internal experiences of the types. In my first two years of research, I amassed a great deal of new information on the Enneagram types.

I immediately discovered that research subjects used three types, not just one, in a hierarchical stacking order. I called this pattern 3Types, TriCenter, and Trigram.

1996 Tri-fix
I first heard the term Trifix® in late 1996.
At the end of 1996, after I had begun to teach my 3Types research findings, I learned that Oscar Ichazo had recently begun to tell some students that they had a tri-fix. I thought that this was great news and immediately wanted to find out everything I could about the tri-fix. Unfortunately, Ichazo had not written anything or published anything on what has now become Trifix®.

Assuming both Ichazo and I were using the same concept, in the same way, "individuals using all three centers," I merged 3Types, TriCenter, and Trigram with tri-fix and gave Ichazo attribution for the term itself. I did this to avoid confusion for the Enneagram Enthusiasts.

In 2007-2008
I discovered an important distinction between my work and Ichazo’s term tri-fix. What is important to note is that Trifix® and Tritype® evolved separately from one another. So while they both recognize that individuals use all three centers, they are different in a key way thereafter, which can be seen in the names of the two processes; Trifix® (three fixations) and Tritype® (three types).

Tritype®
My descriptions and teaching materials are based on my vast and ongoing body of research, with thousands of study participants describing their use of three Enneagram types, one from each center. Most importantly, they used the defense strategies of three types meaning the “full use of the three Enneagram types.” They definitely used the idealized images, core fears, and defense strategies of all three types, not just the fixations of the types.

All materials, courses, presentations, posts, and discussions came from me alone and then were later modified and reposted by others.

Trifix®
Trifix® defines the term to mean the use of three mental fixations “only."

Tritype®, however, is the use of all three “full” types in a hierarchical, stacking order. And that the Tritype® includes the use of mental fixations but also; the emotional passions and gut convictions of the three types, etc.

Because Ichazo never posted anything on his term, Trifix, it became problematic for me to continue to use the term Trifix. This was because readers mistakenly thought I was teaching Ichazo’s work when in actuality, I was teaching what I learned from thousands of study participants, test-takers, qualitative interviews, and in-depth Inquiry sessions and simply gave Ichazo attribution of the term.

Many still do not realize that everything found on Trifix® actually came from me. So all teachings of 3Types, Trifix®, and Tritype® came from my seminal work with study participants and clients.

2007-2008
In 2006, I was teaching my theories in a number of different venues. During a course on Trifix for Therapists, I met a lovely woman that was an attorney and on the board of directors of Ichazo’s school, the Arica Institute.

After the course, we spent time sharing our knowledge of the Enneagram. During that conversation, I shared that I wanted to separate my work from Ichazo’s term, but because it had been merged for 10 years, I wasn't sure how to go about it without causing more confusion.

We continued to discuss the many ways that knowing Ichazo's Enneagram of Personality had changed our view of ourselves and others. We discussed our experiences with tri-fix and how it named additional aspects of our struggles that the single type alone could not.

It was at this time that we discovered a critical distinction in the way that we defined Trifix. According to Ichazo’s teachings, Trifix® defines the term to mean the use of three mental fixations “only.” Tritype®, however, is the use of all three “full” types in a hierarchical, stacking order. And that the Tritype® includes the use of mental fixations but also; the emotional passions and gut convictions of the three types, etc.

This was just what we needed to separate the terms. So we began to discuss how that could happen in a fluid and seamless manner.

The attorney shared that Arica had wanted to trademark the term Trifix. However, because I was the only person to use it, write about it, and offer courses and conference presentations on the topic and because I had popularized the term, Arica could not trademark the term.

I told her that because I had always given Ichazo attribution for the term, Trifix out of respect as the creator of the Enneagram of Personality, I could simply confirm and document that the term originated with Ichazo. Which I did.

I thought that I would go back to using my original terms. But the attorney shared that she and others thought that I should use the term Tritype. That way, it would be clear that both systems recognized the use of three centers, but one focused on the three fixations (Ichazo’s Trifix), and the other focused on the three types (my Tritype Research). I loved it because Tritype better defined what my research had revealed.

She told me that Arica would trademark the term Trifix as soon as they could. She then suggested that I trademark the term Tritype. That way, the accuracy of both bodies of work would be traceable to the correct originator, and as trademark holders, we could both maintain the integrity of the concepts and how they were alike and differed from one another.

She felt both systems emerged from extensive bodies of work and should be respected in their own right. She wanted to document that both recognized the concept that individuals used all three triads which was unknown in 1994.

She stressed that consumers should be able to quickly recognize the original services and/or products that were created by both Ichazo and me independently of one another. And that both were linked to his work with the Enneagram of Personality.

So simply put, the term Trifix resulted from Ichazo’s theory that focused on the individual moving from the ego-state to enlightenment, which resulted in the Enneagram of Personality. And the concept of Tritype emerged from years of teaching the Enneagram types and qualitative research, using original testing instruments, with thousands of research participants.

Ichazo’s attorney further explained to me that if I wanted consumers to be protected from misinformation, confusion, and being misled and wanted to be able to correct errors in the transmission of my intellectual property, then I needed to trademark the term.

Also, the attorney said that she hoped I would trademark Tritype because it would keep the evolution of both concepts as a more accurate transmission of the Enneagram of Personality. She knew that the school wanted to remain out of the public domain as much as it could, whereas my work was already in the very heart of it.

The attorney also knew that this meant the burden of maintaining a more accurate dissemination of their terms in the public domain would fall to me. And that I would be the one that would need to clarify the distinctions between these bodies of work in the public domain. It seemed reasonable to me in 2008…social media was exploding but had not reached the fever pitch it has today… ;)

More on Tritype® here:
Katherine created a test that has been programmed to pick up particular patterns that the types use.
Take the Test here: https://enneagramtritypetest.com
General Information: www.katherinefauvre.com/tritype
YouTube: Katherine Fauvre | Creator of Tritype®