Research

A graduate of the British Academy of Graphology, Usha Mullan has focused her attention on research since 1988. Her initial specialization into children's writings led her to monitor a class of nine years olds into adolescence. Over a period of six years she was able to observe the gradual changes in the handwriting and drawings of these children as their personalities developed. This real time observation over so many years has provided her with a unique insight into the way in which personality development is reflected through the unconscious movement in handwriting.

Usha Mullan has formulated an overall guide to the assessment of handwriting, which she has called the Quality of Movement. It seeks to identify the inner responses of the personality (as reflected through the handwriting) from the analysis of nine key criteria including the elasticity or tension of the stroke. She found that the observation of tension provided a key to understanding the writer's attitude to the environment: adaptability, conflict, weakness or resistance.

Usha Mullan's introduction to the Enneagram came about entirely by chance in a New York bookshop. That chance encounter led to over six years of research into this ancient system of understanding personality. From its origins rooted in the philosophy of Plato, the mathematical genius of Pythagoras and early Sufi teachings, her study led her to the modern day teachings of George Gurdjieff, Oscar Ichazo, Don Riso and Claudio Naranjo (amongst others) who have contributed to an advanced understanding of the Enneagram.

It was when studying the Enneagram that Usha Mullan recognized the potential that this dynamic typology offered graphologists in personality profiling. She found that Enneagram Typing was typically carried out by means of questionnaires and close observation, but that this process was time-consuming and subjective. Graphology did not suffer this subjectivity. The graphologist does not need to know any details about the writer (other than age and sex) and does not need any personal contact with the subject.

Once the Type and level of development are identified through the analysis of handwriting, the Enneagram proposes a predictable pattern of responses for that particular Type: from the self-aware person to one who is descending to pathological levels. Graphology can also chart these changes through handwritings over a period of time and identify levels of stress through a given cluster of signs in the writing. This correlation between graphology and the Enneagram adds a new dimension to understanding the complexities of an individual's personality. 

As a result of Usha Mullan's groundbreaking research graphology can now be used to identify not only the person's primary Enneagram Type, but also the dominant Wing, the influence of the Wing (mild, average or strong) as well as the motivating or basic need and the level of maturity. This original work is presented in two volumes under the heading Graphology and the Enneagram.

Usha Mullan's interest in the understanding of children and adults through their drawings has continued over a period of fifteen years. Her vast collection of samples reflects people from all walks of life and from around the world. The conclusion of this research is soon to be published and is expected to include a section devoted to the interpretation of colour in drawings.

When doing an in-depth analysis Usha Mullan utilizes a triangular approach in understanding the personality. By combining the three areas of her research: graphology, the Enneagram and projective drawings, she obtains a three dimensional perspective of the individual which is more comprehensive than that which could be obtained by the use of any one of these techniques on its own. She calls this method the "Trinal Approach".