A Field Guide to Humans

by Frank De Luca, PhD
illustrated by Nancy Bardos

Successful relationships of all kinds begin with seeing through the other person’s eyes. It’s a simple practice but not that easy, especially with those close to us.

A Field Guide to Humans: Enriching Relationships through the Enneagram is a playful, pragmatic guide to understanding the people in your life and improving your relationships with them. Author and therapist Frank De Luca presents the Enneagram, a model of the human psyche as nine interrelated personality types, as a lens through which to see others—their strengths, their foibles, and what makes them tick.

The title, A Field Guide to Humans, is an invitation to regard people with the same wonder and openness that a wildlife biologists brings to the study of the natural world. It is possible to have the same objectivity, curiosity, and respect while looking at human beings. Seeing friends, family, coworkers, and others in this way invites curiosity and compassion rather than criticism—a reminder that whoever you are interacting with, they want the same basic things you do, but they go about it differently.

The book’s nine chapters present the identifying characteristics of the nine Enneagram types, their limited and evolved expressions, as well as insights and tips for relating to people of each personality type. Delightfully illustrated with Nancy Bardos’s original artwork, the chapters include first-person vignettes by people of each type or by those connected to someone of a certain type. The book’s approach reflects Dr. De Luca’s decades of expertise with the experiential narrative tradition of teaching the Enneagram.

Open the book and open your heart to a compassionate way of living with friends, family, colleagues, and even complete strangers.

Frank De Luca (author) and Nancy Bardos (artist/illustrator) collaborated on the creation of this profound colorful book filled with wisdom about human nature. Each illustration spotlights some aspect, light or dark, of who we are. Each story shares a different point of view.

My hope is that you will become more curious about all the people in your life, seeing them with fresh eyes and a more tender heart. At the very least, you are likely to come away with a few “No wonder we always argued about . . .” or “Now I see why we work so well together. . .” or “Wow, I had no idea that’s what goes on in that head of his.” And you just might find yourself enjoying people more and being more kind to them without having to try.

— Frank De Luca

For ongoing information, watch this site: A Field Guide to Humans