The biggest mistake I made teaching my wife how to shoot was letting her try a lightweight J-frame with standard pressure .38. I did not have previous experience with .38 in such lightweight guns, and was surprised to learn that the recoil was actually worse than the .45 we were simultaneously shooting. It took me years to teach her to undo the resulting flinch. It is one reason I recoil so much at the thought of recommending lightweight .38 revolvers to new female shooters.
Once at a S&W event, I tried a scandium J-frame with .357. The first round drove the cylinder latch into my thumb, drawing blood. I was able to fire the next 4 into a wide shotgun pattern into the target. I had no desire to ever do that again.