I recently asked some of my favorite tappers “What are the biggest mistakes made by beginning tappers?” Below you will find their answers. When everyone answered they didn’t know what anyone else was saying. I found it very instructive to see the number of similar answers that were given by many people.

Jade Barbee – emotionalengine.com

• Not getting hands-on practice in core skills like Movie Technique, Sneaking Up.
• Not keeping a Personal Peace Journal. Going into session with an agenda.

Ilana – positive-eft.com

• Thinking they can only tap if they do the whole sequence and doing it in the right order.
• Not understanding the wisdom behind saying out loud the “negative” words and so they run too fast into the “positive” phrases.

Ann Ross – eftuk.net

• Going into traumatic events that they are not qualified to handle on their own. Being more interested in results rather than safety.

Jondi Whitis – eft4results.com

• Not looking closely enough to be specific, or failing to even understand what specific really is, no matter how much we say about this to them.
• Not using the Personal Peace Procedure to generate a list of things that will continually move them forward.
• Relying on scripts and looking for something else to add, instead of mastering the basic formula they’ve been given; mine is like this – if you forget everything else, just tap on A (the truth right now) + B (specific details and info) + C (self-acceptance) = D (relief & results).
• Not being willing to sit in the discomfort for even a few minutes to discern what they’re really thinking or feeling, so they can tap on that.
• Rushing to add in positives before cleaning out is done properly.

Carol Look – attractingabundance.com

• Beginner tappers often don’t choose a clear target to work on. They choose a huge problem (low self-esteem) and therefore don’t aim the tapping at a specific emotion than can be eliminated.
• Beginner tappers sometimes ignore the reminder phrase (repeating the problem while tapping on the sequence of points) so they end up being disengaged from the emotional connection to the tapping.
• Beginner tappers sometimes think EFT has to be complicated! This causes them to spend too much time and effort on making the setup statement complicated, and they losing efficiency and effectiveness.

Ange Finn – TapIntoYourself.com

• Beginner tappers usually get hung up on what to say. They think saying the right things is the key to success, vs the tapping itself. I usually tell them, “just say whatever your self-talk at that moment is.”
• Beginner tappers sometimes forget to use their tapping, or only use it for what they first tried it out on; i.e., if they are using it for anxiety, they forget to use it when they have pain or anger.

Ted Robinson – Tedrobinson.com

• The biggest mistake beginning tappers make is not using negative wording while they tap. This usually stops them from fully feeling the negative feeling or self-limiting belief and they don’t fully block their meridians. That means they don’t get the best results because there was no blockage in place to tap away with EFT. The best thing to do is fully feel the emotional pain, worry, stress, etc. and then tell your story about the issue while you tap all the points.

Lindsay Kenny – ProEFT.com

• Being too general when tapping. Starting the set-up with “Even though I have low self-esteem” or “Even though I have this weight issue…” They don’t know, or haven’t identified what they are actually tapping on. It helps to identify the emotions around an issue and start by tapping on that.
  For instance, people often have a lot of guilt, shame or disappointment in themselves about weight issues, clutter, procrastination, etc. By isolating those emotions, you can put them all together, give them an intensity rating and tap them away at once. THEN, identify why you think you have your issue and tap away the cause of it. This is a simplified answer to a complex situation. Bottom line is, people often start tapping on issues way over their heads and are often tapping on the wrong thing.

Alina Frank – tapyourpower.net

• Tapping on global versus specific issues/events. As a general rule of thumb tapping on “the time when” is going to collapse all sorts of challenges quicker.
• Tapping on affirmative statements. Carl Jung was 100% spot on when he said, “What you resist persists.” Tapping on affirmative statements before you clear out the negative might feel good but it’s only temporary and will not ultimately solve the problem.
• Tapping on physical symptoms instead of the underlying emotional core issues as in, “Even though I have this headache…” The headache in this case is merely the body’s response to what is happening emotionally and that’s what your tapping should focus on.

Sherrie Rice Smith – EFTUniverse.com

• 1) Not being persistent enough to get all aspects of an issue.
• 2) Feeling that they have to tap perfectly to get results, thus focusing on the physical mechanisms of EFT, rather than focusing on the feelings and emotions.
• 3) Not getting specific enough. Tapping too globally.

Colleen Flanagan – EmoRescue.com

• They tap on the symptoms, such as lower back pain, rather than the core issue, which is likely money-related fear.
• They don’t get the SUDS level to zero, then the condition returns and they blame EFT for not “sticking” or being effective.

Steve Wells – eftdownunder.com

• Promising too much and being too evangelical about tapping.
• Focusing more on the technique than on the person, and not realizing the importance of rapport, and pacing.
• Not understanding that some problems are more complex and will need persistence and some will need additional support.
• Not doing enough tapping. Worrying about the words.

Rod Sherwin –

• Being too general and not doing enough rounds.

Pamela Bruner – MakeYourSuccessEasy.com

• 1) Thinking that they need the ‘right’ words.
• 2) Giving up too soon.

Andy Hunt – practicalwellbeing.co.uk

• 1) Not knowing where to start so not starting at all. If they were just to start tapping on any aspect of the situation that would start things moving.
• 2) Getting hung up on the words. I think many people are afraid of getting it wrong although tapping is a hard thing to get wrong.
• 3) Being afraid of negative thoughts or emotions. If you want to shoot a tiger you have to go towards it (with apologies to tiger lovers everywhere).
• 4) Rushing to the positive before the negative has been taken care of. Trying to put sugar on shit in the hopes that the shit will go away.