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

@Noregrets78

So is it coincidence that everyone is spelling CAMHS correctly, except you? And that your misspelling is the same as the freedom formula website? And the same misspelling on the (fake) positive reviews? I also call scam. I also totally fancy myself as a detective.

Plus all the people defending it type in exactly the same way and make similar grammatical errors. I'm totally with you in AC-12.

@Nats1984

Emma ... Child and adolescent mental health service. CAMHS. How could you not know that if you have trodden the path and waited for those letters? Do not insult those of us who have , and who’ve traversed the pits of hell to sort our kids out . Anyone who tries to make money off the back of something like childhood mental health issues is genuinely scum of the earth. If it was a genuine thing and worked , it would be available privately and publicly and recommended by our local doctors.

Well said 👏

This is a thread I actually wish would get picked up by the press for once so that these claims could be fully investigated.

@Belle392010 My daughter is still at the begging

You say you are still at the beginning.
How long have you been on the programme?

I don't feel that getting other parents using the programme to post here is very helpful to the programme's reputation, unless they have been doing it for at least 6 months and they are able to give some info on the changes to their DC and info over and above 'I've had to change how I parent' and 'I now understand what anxiety is'.

So how would you now define anxiety?

Our family life is as stress free as possible within the boundaries of reality. (e.g. I can't exactly take away v.old grandparents, covid or GCSEs).

@Noregrets78 you should definAtely work for AC12 :o

I just worry that it is really easy for people at the start to be positive.
Someone else is telling you they have 100% success, it feels good to be doing something, the regular contact makes you feel less alone, and someone from the outside can help spot quick wins in how your family is set up that can give some immediate relief.

But after that initial period, which all the proponents so far are on, does it really continue? Do the DC get back to where they were before the anxiety hit?

I've probably spent 5k in the last year supporting my DD and myself, but I have understood what I was paying for, and didn't have to commit to all the money up front based on promises.

@DoubleTweenQueen It really is hard to find people who are good. I’ve met quite a few shit counsellors in my time and you have to weed out the rubbish ones. Counselling directory is a good place to start. Contact some people. They’ll have some who list autism or adhd as areas of interest. I know the psychologist said they didn’t think she had it but I’d probably mention it anyway. CAMHS just don’t seem useful at all unless you’re in total crisis. And their definition of crisis is a lot higher than you’d hope. We really don’t have good provision in this country and so that’s where people like Sam Robins come in. She’s trying to make money off people’s desperation to make their children feel better. People would pay a lot to take their child’s pain away, but an unregulated, secretive scheme that then tries to recruit you too, is not the way to do it.

Definitely weird how the trip advisor reviews followed the same pattern as this. One bad review and then loads of gushing posts on the same day.... hmmm.

I saw that the Linden method got reported to the ASA. Is that the next step?

So belle what do you now understand anxiety to be?

At the moment no way would I book a call with any person / organisation with so little transparency on their website. I take the same approach with double glazing etc. I might miss out on an amazing opportunity occasionally, but I stop myself being scammed more often.

Belle Why would you review a programme you have only just started and not wait a few months?

@TeenMinusTests

I just worry that it is really easy for people at the start to be positive. Someone else is telling you they have 100% success, it feels good to be doing something, the regular contact makes you feel less alone, and someone from the outside can help spot quick wins in how your family is set up that can give some immediate relief.

But after that initial period, which all the proponents so far are on, does it really continue? Do the DC get back to where they were before the anxiety hit?

I've probably spent 5k in the last year supporting my DD and myself, but I have understood what I was paying for, and didn't have to commit to all the money up front based on promises.

Totally. And I worry that a few months down the line - when the initial effects have worn off and, for most people I imagine, things are no better than they were originally - there's a whole heap of guilt that it's inevitably going to generate both for the teens and the parents because they've somehow 'failed'. And that's not good for anyone.

@SwanShaped

I saw that the Linden method got reported to the ASA. Is that the next step?

I wonder. They're not part of any professional bodies are they? When I saw a health care professional who was operating so far out of her level of training/knowledge that it was dangerous, I reported her to her regulatory body who took action against her. I'm guessing that's not possible here though?

Belle392010
I happy to say what I changed.
I have been making things worse by not parenting my daughter the way I used too. I was to soft! I would let her get away with things because I wanted her to be happy and take her pain away. I would talk to much and try and reassure her without being able to stop how she was feeling.

This sounds like learning about the thoughts-feelings-emotions cycle and how to break it? I was lucky enough to be offered a parenting course at CAMHS (Scotland) where we learned about this, and it really helped me to work towards being a better parent / support for my anxious child.

My child has never been offered (or pushed) medication for anxiety by GP or CAMHS. I appreciate that this isn't everyone's experience but this company seems to be pushing the idea that the NHS is routinely throwing medication at children, as a way to draw parents into their program.

If the program has a good success rate, then surely it would make more business sense to offer the first two weeks at a set (lower) price and then for people to choose whether they wanted to continue (and pay the remaining £5K)? I don't believe this is genuine but if it is, they will be putting off a lot of potential customers by not being transparent about how the program works.

I'm also worried by the repeated references to parents 'not being prepared to do the work', if they question this company's legitimacy. I'm sure anyone who is on this board knows the massive weight of guilt that we carry as parents of anxious children. It's not helpful (and is very manipulative) to play on parents fears to extract money from them.

It also reinforces the idea that if this program fails, it's because of lack of parental engagement, therefore absolving the company of any responsibility.

The year 6 grammar, spelling mistakes and use of odd wording on the website suggests it was not written by anyone with any qualifications. You’d have to be nuts to hand over good money to someone who can’t construct a paragraph to provide medical treatment. At best it’s an Ill advised well-meaning deluded person who believes they have the answers, more likely though it’s an out and out con .

If the person who left the bad review on Trustpilot is here, please have a look at the company's replies to good reviews as they seem to have included personal information (your child's first name). You can flag the reply with your personal info to Trustpilot.

(I don't usually post much but this has really got to me)

Yes to the claims about it being parents’ fault if it doesn’t work. For a parent to willingly spend £5k on something so vague, they must really be in a desperate place. They’ll have tried everything and it will probably have dominated a lot of their waking thoughts. So to then imply that it might not work because parents don’t put the effort in, is insulting.

For those people who have explained it a bit, it doesn’t sound anything revolutionary.

Also shocked at the trust pilot review that mentions a child’s name!

Yeah I’ve reported bad practice before too. But no idea who this would be reported to. I’ve never posted on a thread so much but this one has really got to me.

SwanShaped - me too. It's really hit a nerve. I tried to report the reply with the child's name to Trustpilot but you're not able to report a reply, only a customer review.

@SwanShaped

Yeah I’ve reported bad practice before too. But no idea who this would be reported to. I’ve never posted on a thread so much but this one has really got to me.

Same. It's made me so angry.