Knowledge and understanding of the personality type as assessed by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® instrument can be a tool for personal growth, achieving balance, understanding self, and creating possibilities. There are many areas where type can be of assistance and some are related here with links to offer you more details about applying psychological type to your personal growth.

Your personality type doesn’t change over time, but each preference helps you in different ways, and to different degrees, as you move through your life. Type development is a life-long process and understanding type can help you overcome challenges at various stages of life including youth, midlife, retirement, and aging.

Balancing Work and Play is another important part of our daily lives and an awareness of personality type can assist in creating the harmony between work life and leisure activities.

Knowledge of type can help people express their spirituality in ways that are comfortable and rewarding. For people who are already active spiritually, an understanding of type can direct them toward new more satisfying practices.

There have been many books written about personality type and grief, and it is perhaps one of the most profound uses of type. Understanding one’s personality type helps a person recognize why certain expressions of grief are better suited to his or her personal journey through this difficult process.

Clearly, MBTI® theory and use is widespread in the fields of counseling and psychology. Whether you come to counseling knowing your type or not, your therapist or counselor can introduce you to type or help you discover practical ways for applying type theory to your unique situation.

And finally, taking care of your own health or the health of others can be greatly influenced by the knowledge of personality type.

It is always important that personality type is not the answer to everything, just one more tool to help you grow, achieve, and prosper in your life.

Resources

Applications of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in Counseling: A Casebook by Judith A. Provost

Embracing Midlife: Congregations as Support Systems by Lynne M. Baab (Alban Inst. 1999)

Introduction to Type and Emotional Intelligence by Roger R. Pearman (CPP 2002)

Introduction to Type Dynamics and Development: Exploring the Next Level of Type by Katharine D. Myers and Linda Kirby (CPP 1994)

In the Grip: Understanding Type, Stress and the Inferior Function by Naomi Quenk (CPP 2000)

LifeKeys: Discovering. . . Who You Are, Why You’re Here, What You Do Best by Jane A. G. Kise, David Stark, and Sandra Krebs Hirsh (Bethany House Publishers 1998)

LifeTypes: Understand Yourself and Make the Most of Who You Are . . . by Sandra Krebs Hirsh and jean M. Kummerow (Warner Books 1989)

Looking at Type and Spirituality by Sandra Krebs Hirsh and Jane A. G. Kise (CAPT 1997)

Navigating Midlife by Eleanor S. Corlett and Nancy B. Millner (Davies-Black1993)

Pathways to Integrity: Ethics and Psychological Type by Blake W. Burleson (CAPT 2001)

Personality Types in Congregations: How to Work with Others More Effectively by Lynne M. Baab (Alban Inst. 1998)

Recovery from Loss: A Personalized Guide to the Grieving Process by Lewis Tagliafere and Gary L. Harbaugh (CAPT 2002)

Reinventing Yourself: Life Planning After 50 Using the Strong and MBTI® by Sandra Davis and Bill Handschin (1998)

Three Keys to Self-Understanding: An Innovative and Effective Combination of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Assessment Tool, the Enneagram, and Inner-Child Healing by Pat Wyman (CAPT 2002)

Was That Really Me? How Everyday Stress Brings Out Our Hidden Personality by Naomi L. Quenk (Davies-Black 2001)

Work, Play, and Type: Achieving Balance in Your Life by Judith A. Provost (CAPT 2001)

Your Key to Sports Success by Jonathan P. Niednagel (Laguna Press 1992)

Your Personality and the Spiritual Life by Reginald Johnson (CAPT 1999)

Your Personality Prescription: Optimal Health Through Personality Profiling by Roberta Schwartz Wennik (Kensington Publishing 1999)