About
Michael Torresan
Michael's background includes significant training & practice in the field of psycho-spiritual growth and development as well as success in the international corporate business arena.
As a child, Michael's grandmother initiated him into the exploration of The Self. Later, when Michael met A.H. Almaas, the Founder of the Diamond Approach, his training became more formal.
First as student, and then as a teacher, Michael, became fluent in the understandings of psycho-spiritual growth as well as the Enneagram.
Education and Early Employment
His path began with college, grad school, and Wall Street. He worked in Europe, Middle East, North Africa and Central America.
In these roles Michael has served in the areas of corporate finance, strategic planning, human resource management, and employee development/engagement.
Diamond Approach Teacher
In 1978, Michael met A.H. Almaas, the originator of the Diamond Approach, in Berkeley, CA. Almaas, became his teacher. By 1984, Michael was an ordained minister/teacher of the Diamond Approach.
As a teacher, he worked one-on-one as a spiritual guide with private students leading them through psychological blocks and barriers that prevented the direct experience and expression of their essential inner richness.
In addition to this private practice in California, Michael taught groups in Europe and Brazil. In 1987 he established the first Diamond Heart group in Vancouver, Canada, and in 1989 created the first group in Seattle.
Michael's Enneagram Practice
A. H. Almaas introduced Michael to the Enneagram in 1979 as a vital tool to assist individuals in becoming aware of their personality structure and as a context to being inquiry and self-reflection.
This wisdom allows students to understand how their personality was formed. They come to know what painful limitations the personality can present if it is not exposed, understood, and transcended.
Michael uses the Enneagram with all clients to assist self-discovery and to understand and appreciate the great differences between the nine personality types' motivation and behavior.
Plant-Based Consciousness Expansion
In 1992, on a trip to Brazil to introduce the Diamond Approach teaching in Sao Paulo, Michael attended a session at the Santo Daime church. The Santo Daime church uses ayahuasca (tea) as its legal sacrament. He would later have sessions in Brazilia, Brazil with the Uniao do Vegetal church (UDV).
The impact of ayahuasca on Michael 's understanding became another turning point in his path. It amplified his normal awareness revealing hidden aspect of his personality structure that had kept him bound. It opened a portal to the word of the transcendent. It propelled him on journeys in this new world producing direct and undeniable encounters with the incredible depth & richness of reality.
In 1993 he invited the Uniao do Vegetal church to Seattle. Many people attended and benefited from the early sessions. This was the beginning of a process that led to the establishment of the UDV church in the Seattle area. In 2006 the Supreme Court affirmed the legal right of sacramental use of the tea by the UDV.
Authentic Living Institute
Shortly after 2003 Michael Torresan left the Diamond Approach and continued his private and group work in Seattle and Vancouver, BC as the Authentic Living Institute that operated until 2010.
Enneagram in the Corporate Setting
In 1998 he was part of a team that introduced the Enneagram to the Boeing Co. Since then he has introduced it to Microsoft, Intel and a host of companies in the Northwest whose goal was to develop leadership capacity, and create high functioning teams. He is currently teaching the Enneagram at Olympic College, Bremerton, WA.
Since pioneering these introductions 20 years ago, he is pleased to see the resurgence of interest in the Enneagram today.
Corporate Consultant
Michael Torresan is certified as a Systems Thinking consultant (ST).
During the period of 2005 - 2017 Boeing retained him for several applications of ST to: reorganize the Flight Test division, improve safety at the Everett Aircraft Delivery Center, and create a strong Engagement Culture in Supplier Management.
From 2007-2009 he served as Director, Organizational Development at the Impex Co. Seattle, WA. In this role he created a company-wide systemic view of the firm to proactively reveal & address problems & constraints that would limit success in the future.
In 2012 he began a four year project with Boeing. This project analyzed low employee engagement. The finding was that the quality of the one-to-one relationship between employee and manager was a 70% determinant of how engaged a person felt. Only 3 out of 10 managers are successful at creating engaged people. Discovering the reasons for success led to development of training and coaching to assist managers in increasing capacity to create engaged people.