January 22, 2026
Can the Enneagram Help You Heal? Enneagram RX & the Mind–Body Connection (Ep 118)
Listen here:
Notes
In this episode of Surfing the Quicksand, Kathy Vines is joined by Kate Jackson, co-founder of Enneagram RX, for a deeply thoughtful conversation about chronic illness, mind-body healing, and reclaiming agency through self-awareness.
Kate shares her personal journey through cancer and chronic health challenges, explaining how discovering the Enneagram, specifically the three centers of intelligence (head, heart, and body), gave her language for patterns she had lived with for decades but never fully understood. Rather than focusing on personality “types,” Kate’s work centers on recognizing emotional and physiological defaults and how they shape communication, stress responses, relationships, and long-term health.
Together, Kathy and Kate explore how repressed emotions (especially anger) can quietly influence physical inflammation, chronic pain, and exhaustion, without placing blame or shame on women who are already navigating complex medical realities. Kate is explicit: chronic illness is not something women “do to themselves,” but understanding emotional patterns can create opportunities to interrupt cycles that no longer serve them.
The conversation also reframes the traditional patient-provider relationship. Kate advocates for an integrative approach to healing, one that values conventional medicine while also honoring emotional, mental, and spiritual health. By doing internal work alongside medical treatment, women can become active members of their healthcare team, rather than passive recipients of care, leading through agency.
Resources and Links
Kate’s website: https://enneagramrx.com/
Upcoming Transformative Workshops for Women Living with Chronic Stress, Pain, or Illness using the Enneagram + Mind-Body Science: https://enneagramrx.com/workshops
The Narrative Enneagram https://www.narrativeenneagram.org/
CP Enneagram Academy https://cpenneagram.com/
Enneagram Minnesota https://mn-iea.org/
About Kate Jackson:
Kate works with women experiencing chronic stress, pain and illness using a combination of Enneagram and mind-body practices through a collaborative project called Enneagram RX. Their aim is to support women to build a personal prescription (RX) using our practical and sustainable framework to shift their relationship to their chronic condition and build agency and ownership of their health journey to live well.
Kate’s personal experience with surviving Stage 4 cancer in 2015 has informed her journey to embrace the Enneagram and its spiritual healing quality. When cancer returned a second time, Kate credits leveraging the Enneagram and mind-body teaching for the transformative impact on her, her healthcare team, and support network.
- National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach
- M.A. – Integrative Health and Wellbeing Coaching – Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota
- Certified Enneagram Practitioner through The Narrative Enneagram
- Certificate of Professional Training in Mind-Body Medicine from the Center for Mind-Body Medicine
- Certified Sound Healing Practitioner through the Sound Healing Academy, UK