Learning With Linda Berens

[highlander]

I just attended a two day workshop that Linda Berens taught in Chicago. It was about:
Day 1 - Interaction styles and Temperaments
Day 2 - Cognitive functions and dynamics

The audience was Association For Psychological Type members, and there is a lot a lot of material covered in a short amount of time. There were people who traveled from as far as Portland Oregon to attend the training. It was a small group - perhaps 15 people on day one and 8 on day two. I know about much of this stuff already but found the opportunity to learn directly from her, ask questions, etc. to be an absolutely phenomenal experience. It was very much worth the time and money.

For those that are interested, she is teaching this coming weekend in New York. Signup can be done at this link here.

https://s08.123signup.com/servlet/SignUp?P=153101200&PG=1531012182300

I'll write a little bit more over the coming days on some things I learned and provide pointers to additional resources.

 

[highlander]

This is a video that summarizes at a high level some of the topics covered in the class

http://www.typologycentral.com/forums/vbtube_show.php?tubeid=263

 

[highlander]

Some examples of what she covered.

She has an integrated view of type - the functions, the 16 types, the temperaments - it all hangs together in a well thought out framework.

We spent a half day on the Temperaments. It's the same basic temperaments that Kiersey talks about but there are some differences. She calls them different names. She calls SP Improviser instead of Artisan for example, which I think is a better name. Similar to Kiersey, she describes in some detail about the intelligence of each of the temperaments:
NF - Diplomatic
SP - Tactical
NT - Strategic
SJ - Logistical

A NT type isn't necessarily limited to strategic intelligence though that's what they would lead with. This is similar to what Kiersey talks about but she has different view on the ordering of the "intelligences" than Kiersey has. She for example calls herself a Theorist (NT) with Catalyst (NF) rising. I would characterize myself as Theorist with Improvisor rising (lead with strategic, come in second with tactical).

I found some of her pictures/visuals to be fantastic. The following is an old picture before she changed the names (that I found through Google search)

Some key concepts are that each type has a specific set of:
- Needs
- Values
- Talents
- Behaviors

There is some profound stuff in that simple model/picture. We can often recognize a person's type by looking for evidence of their talents. This is described in further detail in her book.

I'll be honest - When I first read some of her booklets, I was disappointed and thought them too high level. There is something to be said for simplicity and being concise though. You get a completely different appreciation for what she has pulled together after sitting through her workshops.

 

[highlander]

The second part of the first day was about Interaction Styles. It is summarized here. Again, each of the 16 types falls into one of these four buckets. So, like the INTJ and ISTJ fall into the Chart the Course type.

Interaction Styles | The InterStrength Group