Embarking on a journey of personal and professional development and healing is often an enriching experience, especially when delving into practices like Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) tapping. Attending a level 1-2 EFT tapping workshop marks the beginning of an empowering journey, but the learning doesn't end there. It's crucial to consider what comes next to truly solidify skills and enhance one's practice. Jumping right into mentoring and certification after such a workshop offers invaluable benefits.
Benefits of Mentoring
The human brain tends to retain information better when it's applied immediately after learning. By diving into mentoring and certification right after a workshop, practitioners capitalize on this phenomenon, ensuring that the knowledge gained is not only retained but also internalized and deeply understood.
Mentoring sessions provide an opportunity to reinforce workshop learnings, clarify doubts, and delve deeper into the nuances of EFT Tapping Techniques. Additionally, receiving immediate feedback from experienced mentors helps practitioners refine their skills and overcome any initial challenges they may encounter. This proactive approach maximizes the efficacy of the training received during the workshop, laying a strong foundation for future growth and proficiency in EFT tapping.
Practice makes perfect, but without proper guidance, it can also reinforce bad habits and overlooked mistakes. Without the guidance of a mentor, student practitioners risk developing incorrect tapping techniques or overlooking essential aspects of the process. These habits, if left unaddressed, can hinder progress and diminish the effectiveness of EFT tapping sessions.
Risk Mitigation
Jumping into mentoring and certification immediately after a workshop mitigates this risk by providing practitioners with timely correction and guidance. Mentors can identify and address any deviations from best practices, ensuring that practitioners develop sound habits from the outset. By nipping potential problems in the bud, practitioners can optimize their learning curve and avoid the frustration of unlearning and relearning later on.
One student went 2 years between training and starting the mentoring and was using incorrect language in the setup statement simply because they had traded sessions with others who hadn’t gone through an EFTi approved training. Another was including emotion, sensation, and a variety of other things when working with “big T” traumas, which led to several sessions where their clients became dysregulated. This, in turn, scared the student so much that they put off mentoring for several months when being under the guidance of a good trainer mentor would have prevented it from happening in the first place.
When to Begin the Certification Process
For those aspiring to become certified EFT tapping practitioners, starting the certification process immediately after attending a workshop is a strategic move. Certification typically requires a certain number of practice sessions to be completed under the supervision of a certified trainer mentor. By initiating this process promptly, practitioners can ensure that every practice session counts towards their certification requirements.
Engaging in supervised practice sessions early on not only accelerates progress toward certification but also provides invaluable hands-on experience. Practitioners gain confidence, refine their skills, and gradually transition from novice to proficient practitioners under the guidance of experienced mentors. There's also the risk of the trainer not allowing practice sessions done months after the training to count towards certification. Moreover, completing certification requirements early opens doors to new opportunities, such as offering EFT tapping services professionally or integrating them into existing therapeutic practices.
A recent graduate had this to say, “I have one regret and that is that I didn’t start sooner! I ended up having to retake level 1 and 2 as well as spend considerable time unlearning all the bad habits I picked up online. Having someone actually review all my sessions while I was still learning allowed me to make small mistakes that turned into big lessons. It’s has allowed me to become a confident EFTer and some of my practice clients have become paying clients.”
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Alina Frank is an EFT Master of Trainers, training and mentoring practitioners since 2006. She is a contributing author of 8 EFT books.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
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