your child freedom formula - has anyone tried it?

[lu9months]

ive seen adverts for this on fb. they claim to be able to cure anxiety in young people. im suspicious - and nowhere does it tell you the cost. however im fairly desperate since my 16 year old is very disabled by anxiety. thanks

I think that the amount of peer and mentor support you receive on this programme is outstanding and I think they are a company that are possibly naive/inexperienced from a business perspective but are evolving. This thread has possibly forced that upon them. I think there are some people on this forum like yourself that can have a measured discussion about this but others that just are enjoying trying to bring them down. That is why it’s upsetting to families that are using the service at is working and could be helping other children but a lot of the negativity on here is preventing that.

Noodle

So the peer support for your DC. Is it about building up trust and a friendship with someone who has been through a similar thing, and then using that to encourage DC to take small steps?
You talk about them delivering the program - so does that mean effectively the aim of each session is laid out somewhere? Are you as a parent told the order of steps your DC will be encouraged to try?

Also, what are you as a parent encouraged to do/change?

...and how is this thread negatively impacting the ability for mentors to deliver the content to help your DC?

If it’s not affecting this then I believe ALL the actions that are/have/will be taken against YCFF are completely legitimate as they seek to:

• improve transparency
• protect data / identities etc
• have regulation and policy
• charge an appropriate amount for the service and/or pay an appropriate amount to mentors (who knows if they’re being exploited?!)
• ensure mentors are DRB checked (this model has the potential to attract unsavoury mentors who may have ulterior motives - if not now, this could happen in the future!)
• introduce a fair refund policy if someone is unhappy with the service (as I’ve continually stated) - this formula does not work for everyone!

I have missed things from this list I know but it’s early and my brain isn’t fully in gear yet

Just a (few) thoughts @Noodle2571 - you state you didn’t receive the ‘hard sell’ for this formula which leads me to conclude:

• you’re the ideal YCFF client
• you yourself were desperate and anxious (I believe you alluded to this in a previous post)
• you had savings/income sufficient enough to pay 3 lots of £1833 (=£5500)

It seems to me therefore that you did not experience any of the horrendous tactics that my unhappy friend did - intimidation, saying she was a bad mum, financial pressure due to the exorbitant fee which my friend could not afford, etc etc.

Pls correct me if I’ve incorrectly summised this from your posts.

You state you’ve had little contact with Sam - and my understanding is that good clients don’t if they are ‘following the rules, engaging and have paid up’.

Unfortunately in light of my extensive research (which now includes a number of first hand testimonials from unhappy people) my belief is, if you’d had more contact with Sam you’d know she is unhinged and not fit to run a print company let alone a young persons mental health coaching company!

@TeenMinusTests the formula is explained to parents and has 3 main sections. The mentor starts using a chatty tutorial type style but has a flip chart and drawings and teaches them about what’s happening in their body and obviously these kids are not happy so builds a rapport and with my child gave them loads of praise and encouragement. The child also watches short videos. The parents have 2 weeks of mentoring explaining the programme, supporting, guiding. The parents have videos to watch making you really look at how the family works and giving you similar information to the child and there are 4 zoom drop ins a day for support and so you can ask for advice.

@GoodButNaughty your response is exactly why I don’t want to engage on this thread as you may not realise it but the tone of your message is defensive and accusatory. I haven’t done anything wrong. Please don’t come back at me now with more bold print, and personal assumptions and I wish you well.

[quote Noodle2571]@GoodButNaughty
Hi, I messaged you because you said it was not fit for purpose but as far as I know you haven’t enrolled. I was on the thread weeks ago but it’s not for me going back and forth etc. Yes it has been really positive for us as a family.
We have paid that amount.
As far as the mentor goes they have been trained to deliver the programme which they have done really well. As far as dbs goes I haven’t asked and that’s ok as I have heard all of the sessions so don’t feel that is an issue. When I saw my child smiling and happier from a couple of weeks in those sorts of concerns don’t feel that important. To be honest I’m pretty shocked by how well it’s going as I wasn’t a hundred percent convinced at the beginning as it appeared too good to be true.[/quote]
I’m shocked that you don’t think aDBS is necessary, even if you are sitting in on all the sessions. According to the DBS service, anyone carrying out online work with children should have an enhanced DBS. Any company that provides an online service for children should be actively advertising the fact that all their employees have an enhanced DBS.
You are exposing your child, who has significant mental health issues, to someone you’ve never met IRL, you have no idea what professional training they’ve had, they haven’t had any basic safeguarding training or checks. That’s just madness!
I tutor children online. In order to get the job, I had to show evidence of my qualifications, complete PREVENT training, safeguarding training and safer internet training online, have an enhanced DBS, and all my sessions take place on a platform that records every session - including keeping a video recording. I also had to sign a data protection agreement. And all I do is teach English!

Does anyone else agree with Noodle that my tone is defensive and accusatorial towards her?

Yes - I am defending my right to question YCFF! Yes - I am accusing YCFF of unscrupulous unregulated practices.

My assumptions about you @Noodle2571 come from your own posts...

I’m genuinely confused here

Thanks Noodle for that extra info.

Can you give me an idea of things you as a family have changed as a result of the programme?

Good You are quite, er, robust in your style of writing.

I do feel that people who have signed up and feel it is working for them are in quite a difficult position on this thread. We all need to remember the stresses of having anxious children. And also that, given YCFF seems to possibly target more anxious parents, that people who have signed up to YCFF may be more vulnerable than most.
Noodle above most other supporters for YCFF has been really open and measured in her writing and I think deserves to be treated with gentleness.

@TeenMinusTests thank you for your measured response. I take your fair comments on board and offer a profuse apology to @Noodle2571; I’m sorry for my tone.

I think I need to step away for a bit from this - it’s sending my anxiety through the roof!

Thank you @GoodButNaughty and @Soontobe60 is another example. Your message is offensive to me, I didn’t say they have no dbs checks and I am very qualified in the area of safeguarding and child protection through my job. Saying my child has significant mental health issues is also not appropriate.

@Noodle2571 I remember when I could see green shoots in my dd2 starting to emerge again as she started to get stronger. It is elating - the most wonderful feeling - so to hear another parent is possibly experiencing that feeling is very heartening and I wish you continued happy progress.

Can I ask you how you came to YCFF? Was it word of mouth/ a recommendation? what had you tried before, and had you looked for treatment/ a solution via other channels - such as child anxiety charities? e.g. Anxiety UK?
What made you decide upon YCFF?

You’re not obliged to answer at all, of course!

Ofcourse she has. She is paranoid. She is now attacking silly names posted on platforms not supporting the program. Very poor tactics. Definitely no marketing skills either for someone who thinks her program is the new prozac. She is now advertising on Facebook

good look after yourself. This thread has got quite intense, I can understand needing a break.

I pulled up jungle earlier in the thread about using 'being depressed' as a put-down, especially in a mental health forum. In the interest of fairness, I wanted to say that I think it's bad form to use 'mad', 'deranged', 'paranoid' etc to describe Sam Robins, especially when we know she has indeed suffered from anxiety (she makes not secret of this).

I know this is quite an emotive topic for a lot of us, but personally I think that there are legitimate grounds to criticise YCFF, and Sam Robins's conduct without personally attacking her and making assumptions about her mental health.

Reading this post back it sounds a bit pompous - sorry, I just think it would be good to bear in mind.

noodle thanks for sharing in more detail about how YCFF works, it's interesting to hear this. This thread has rumbled on for so long now and it would be hard to read back over everything, but I hope you get from it that in general, posters here don't want to take away existing support from families who are using it, and are not saying that families who have signed up are 'bad' in some way.

It's also not an organised group, as far as I'm aware none of the posters know each other (I certainly don't know anyone else), so what one person says is not necessarily the view of everyone else that's posted here.

Personally, I have felt a bit 'under attack' from some of the posts from YCFF users (not you noodle but others), and then from the post on the FB page, which I assume is referring to me as one of the '5 individuals', although I guess I can't be sure of that. As mentioned before, I'll get over it, but maybe not everyone here is in such a good place with their mental health at the moment.

It is such an emotive subject but personally I feel like most of the YCFF defenders posting on here have been the ones over reacting, accusing posters with genuine and valid concerns of stopping parents from seeking help, very manipulative and guilt tripping IMO.

Why doesn't Sam post on here if she feels so strongly that her business is being unfairly undermined and address these concerns in a clear and transparent manner?

I don't think any of us should be guilt tripped into shutting up. If the program works for you and you are happy with the process then great, many of us remain unconvinced and that is our right.

I agree with that dappled. I did wonder at some points whether there were some posters trying to get people to react inappropriately to try and get the thread deleted by MNHQ. I think the few of us who've stayed the course (presumably that's who Sam refers to as 'Flappy Ears and friends') have remained remarkably calm.

I also agree that Sam could have done a lot of damage limitation by coming onto the thread to talk to people and address their concerns, but that doesn't seem to be the way YCFF operates.

I think we all know very well how stressful, challenging, unpredictable, and emotionally exhausting it is to have a child (or children) who suffer with anxiety. We would welcome with open arms solid solutions.

This to me is intangible, secretive, unquantifiable, and the information available in the public realm is pretty much non-existent. That’s not good enough for me. It might be fine for others, who may have a privileged insight, but knowing what should be in place and available to assist an informed decision and necessary trust base, I do not consider it a viable option.

Plus there are some very worrying links and pieces of information, again all available in the public domain, which cements this opinion.

As much as I would like to trust what each and every person on such an important subject would state, however varied and passionate the opinion, it would never override the evidence I can see and weigh up for myself. And if that also includes personal attacks on me, without any due cause, then that only adds to my disquiet.

Noodle hasn’t been able to return to answer my straightforward questions, so I remain in the dark and my opinion is unchanged.

I think Sam coming to the thread as herself and calmly addressing the concerns would have earned them far more respect. Passive-aggressive, childish posts on Facebook stating what "good mums" do only served to reaffirm to me that this is definitely not the programme for me or my child.

I do find it strange that Sam hasn’t come on here as herself. And I really dislike the sentiment that some people are bad mums. Because they’re questioning it at all or not wanting to do it. Deciding something isn’t right for your child, doesn’t make you a bad mum.

Perhaps Sam has posted here anonymously, I’ve not ruled out YCFF completely but it truly depends on how they deal with situations. Strange rants on Facebook that should be used as an advertising signposting forum is not going to convince me. If I knew nothing and read that post I wouldn’t even take step 1, I would be rather concerned.

@DoubleTweenQueen I haven’t responded because I if you read my post at 9:10am this morning and the two posts that I reference in that post you can see that there are some really inappropriate comments from people on this thread. Thanks

@Noodle2571 I do understand if you were put of from coming back to reply, and also I would think you’d been otherwise busy, but it’s still the case that I would be interested to know what drew you to this route and why you decided to take the significant step of signing up, with all that entails.
You don’t have to say, of course, but it would be enlightening, that’s all. I don’t assume anything from you not wishing to answer.

It’s just I find it hard to believe that folk would be taken by an FB pop-up ad, and thought there must be more to it that I’m not aware of.

I'll tell you all what doesn't work :
Getting a bit tetchy with your anxious child when they are being anxious in the evening because they are tired, but you are tired too so you aren't being as patient as you should be.