MBTI Type: ESFJ

Melinda is all about people and maintaining and repairing their broken relationships, so that people can cross over. She spends a great deal of her time counseling and figuring out how to appeal to people, finding gentle and compassionate ways of breaking bad news to them and handling delicate topics. She’s ultra-sensitive to rejection and often hurt when people accuse her of attempting to take advantage of her, or being a fake. She can process her feelings instantly and has an authoritative air to her—often becoming angry at ghosts and commanding them to stop messing with innocent people and/or trying to threaten her. She exerts so much energy in her efforts to aid reconciliations that her husband often reminds her to conserve more of it, and stay home. He wonders if she can ever learn to say “no,” or go on a vacation without helping someone. Melinda is often not great at analyzing her own motives, her need to assist, or calculating the risks involved in her ghost-wrangling, which sometimes places her into peril. She has always had an “affinity for old things.” She is quite content to run her antique shop all week long, while handling ghostly business on the side; she’s used to it, although it took her some time to catch on to figuring out who is a ghost and who isn’t when she first started out. Melinda has a predictable manner of approaching ghosts; she anticipates their behavior based on former experiences with similar ghosts, and also sets about collecting as many details about their life as she can, in order to piece together the truth and help them pass over. She has a strong aversion to her husband’s college friend, because “he has not changed,” and is still a “party boy.” Melinda is somewhat practical and efficient with her money; she forgoes a honeymoon in favor of “paying Andrea’s salary” and setting up her store. Only after Melinda has a lot of details does she start to see the bigger picture of what is happening in people’s lives and is she able to make the connection (you were one of the orphans, you betrayed your sister, you are the one who is holding your loved one back from moving on, etc). She has lots of ideas for her store, but is somewhat hesitant to leap into things without thinking them through first (she does take Andrea up on her offer as partner, but has to think about it for a little while). She is mostly optimistic… except when it comes to Jim’s handyman skills.

Enneagram: 2w1 sp/so

Melinda wears herself out helping ghosts cross over; her husband often says she ought to take more time for herself, but she can’t not let someone cross over, and sees it as her responsibly to help them. It’s not optional for her, it’s something she feels she must do, according to her ego defenses! Melinda is assertive, but also seeking love from her family, friends, and employees. She has a warm and outgoing nature about her, but can also feel tired, since she spends way more efforts on other people than herself. Sometimes, others see her as imposing. She can be aggressive and combative when threatened, laying down “the law” with ghosts she feels are being disrespectful of her attempts to help them. She rarely shows 8 disintegration (becoming aggressive) but does show a lot of 1 influences – her sense of duty, right and wrong, and accepting her lot in life.