Your child freedom formula / child anxiety programmes - thread 2

[Psuedoshoes]

Carrying on the discussion of YCFF and other similar programmes...

Link to previous thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/child_adolescent_mental_health/4239684-your-child-freedom-formula-has-anyone-tried-it?msgid=108493516#108493516

Chelsea Thanks for responding. You can type a section and post it, then type another and so on. I'm extremely stressed myself right now as my DD is due to start college this week too having missed all of y11.

At the moment YCFF/PP comes over to me as

• as a high sales pressure organisation
• large upfront non refundable fee
• that previously was making outlandish claims (like 100% success guaranteed)
• claiming things about anxiety not back up by doctors.
• claiming to have a 'formula' to cure practically anything
• not clear what actual qualifications / training the people have
• unclear safeguarding

but

• with strong frequent hands on support often from people who have struggled themselves

If the negatives were cleared up, and it was just billed as a strong support network for parent and child with contact at least daily if not more often
and there was more clarity on the web page re fees
and more info from proponents on the type of advice guidance given
then it would be easier to have more confidence in them.

Thanks for your post chelsea. I agree with teen. One other thing that bugs me, is that all the blame is put on parents if it doesn’t work. It’s their fault for not trying hard enough. There seems to be this undercurrent of blame that I don’t like and that if only ‘good’ parents sign up. Others aren’t committed enough or want to spend the money on a new kitchen or whatever it was Sam said.

I’m also slightly irked that Sam won’t come on her as herself.

How is your daughter feeling about college, teen?

Swan Anxious, as am I.

Trying to get college to talk to us to do anything to help her in advance. Bit disappointed. They were so reassuring 'she'll be fine with us' etc, but we asked for some thins they sat on it for over a week, said 'can't' and now aren't responding to calls or emails.

Oh that’s shit. You’d have rather known in advance that they weren’t going to be useful, than them let you down. I hate false promises/platitudes

[quote TeenMinusTests]@Chelsea541
That was an extremely long post. However it pains me to say it, but just like previous proponents of YCFF/PP it says more or less nothing apart from the fact they have been supportive.

In the time/length it took you to write that you could have written something substantial about the advice you are being given.

Why is it that time and time again supporters of YCFF/PP seem unable/unwilling to actually write anything of substance?[/quote]
Hello. Gosh...I posted on one of the original threads back at the start of June when we had only been on the programme a couple of weeks...I’m amazed to see you’re still posting the same things about this! In the past 3 months have you even done the trial period with this company? I’d like to think so because it’s free at the start and instead of expecting people to explain all the advice to you, you can get it yourself.
We are still on the programme and now that my husband has found the time to be fully onboard also, I’m seeing real positive changes in my son. For us, it was about changing the home environment and how we interact with him (not as easy as it sounds!) - there is no easy fix for anxiety disorders but we are working hard on this formula and feel positive about our family for the first time in years :). I tried writing “something of substance” back in June and this wasn’t good enough for some on Mumsnet who have obviously already made up their minds on YCFF/PP, so I’m not wasting my time again. It’s all in the original thread, I’d imagine. This programme is changing the lives of many and it’s so disheartening to think they could be shut down because of a vendetta...where would that leave us?? I would be devastated to lose this! So please think about the families who are benefitting massively from this help!

@Chelsea541 @MumOf2Teens2020

How much did the program cost you?

Are either of you - or your partners - now involved with the program to any degree, as a 'mentor' for instance?

Hi Mum Nice to hear back from you.

No I haven't tried it because
a) I didn't want to interfere with the approach we are taking which is working, slowly but steadily
b) No one has yet really explained anything much about how this formula is meant to work.
c) I aim never to commit to shelling out £££ on smoke and mirrors, not for solar panels, investments, and especially not therapy for a vulnerable child. I may lose out on good valid things, but it helps me not to be scammed.

I've just had a quick look back at your previous posts. You were quite short on any details / examples when you posted before, so maybe now you have been on the programme longer you will feel able to say:

• examples of specific things you have been advised to do / not do to make a better home environment
• examples of changes in your son's MH / what he is capable of doing

(PS. Do other readers think YCFF/PP must hand out boxes of exclamation marks to their clients? )

When I rushed out the house this morning, thinking I'll take my time to try and type a 'satisfactory reply' later in the day to try and help whoever replied to my response, I actually had similar thoughts to you. Why are people seemingly hovering over these threads waiting for answers to drop in their laps. Just contact the company directly. If you have and still need answers, contact them again. It's natural to be cautious, & sceptical especially around internet ads, but you literally have nothing to lose making those calls. They aren't trawling Mumsnet looking to answer all your questions, I don't know any company that does that.

I suspect you thought the last response was from me? Possibly. It wasn't.

If you contact them directly they can listen to your particular situation and gage whether their approach would work in your circumstances.

I reached out to them when I had tried all other avenues. I think that probably put me in a good state of mind to stick with it and until we saw results.

There is structure to the mentoring sessions but with the scope to tailor and adapt to the child's own needs/pace. The parent zoom sessions which run regularly, occasionally have a theme that the host has picked up is a common issue, but generally the learning and what each parent gets from it is more organic. Families talk about the day-to-day issues/challenges/concerns, and they are guided by how best to handle those as the parent, whilst their mentors take the children on a journey from awareness of what's going on, strategies to help them cope, gradual and then building 'facing their fears' type process and loads more depending on what each child struggles with. If a parent struggles with high anxiety themselves, they will provide 1-1 help for that also.
That doesn't do it anything like justice. It is intensive. It is a commitment. If you hear all about it and have any reservations, I would suggest don't do it. It needs the parents to be fully on board. You can't just pay and expect it all to just happen, the road back isn't that easy, I'm afraid.

I'm going to take myself off Mum. Good luck.

I'm going to take myself off Mumsnet ! That was meant to say.

I did explain earlier that I don't know how Mumsnet works....think I may have thought something was directed at me when possibly it was replying to someone else? Anyway, sorry.

I believe this was asked of me...
How much did the program cost you? Roughly around £5000 mark

Are either of you - or your partners - now involved with the program to any degree, as a 'mentor' for instance? No

When I reflect on what I have paid therapists/counsellors in the past and compare it to what I have received these last 10 weeks (and I am still on it for added support whilst my son starts college tomorrow), I feel I have had good value, even if I just base that comparision on assess to the amount of their time received for the money. It is consolidated, you are not waiting a week between set appointments. Clearly, if I bring the success of both routes into that comparision, I wasted a lot of money on other avenues before finding this.

Noticed typo in last message 'access' not assess

@TeenMinusTests

Hi Mum Nice to hear back from you.

No I haven't tried it because
a) I didn't want to interfere with the approach we are taking which is working, slowly but steadily
b) No one has yet really explained anything much about how this formula is meant to work.
c) I aim never to commit to shelling out £££ on smoke and mirrors, not for solar panels, investments, and especially not therapy for a vulnerable child. I may lose out on good valid things, but it helps me not to be scammed.

I've just had a quick look back at your previous posts. You were quite short on any details / examples when you posted before, so maybe now you have been on the programme longer you will feel able to say:

• examples of specific things you have been advised to do / not do to make a better home environment
• examples of changes in your son's MH / what he is capable of doing

(PS. Do other readers think YCFF/PP must hand out boxes of exclamation marks to their clients? )

And this is why I didn’t bother checking this thread for 3 months. Anyone with a positive experience is shot down and disbelieved and I just don’t have the time or energy for it. My priority is my son and his recovery - not spending hours on these threads. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Some of us have found this programme very helpful and I have no idea why that is an issue for you. It’s odd to me that you have the time and inclination to spend hours every day doing this. To the other person who asked - we paid £5,500 in instalments and no, neither of us are mentors or affiliated with it any way, other than being on it. See you in another 3 months if I can be bothered to log back into here 😂. Good luck to you all and your children - at the end of the day, we all have the same goal and the same right to get there in any way we see fit ❤️.

@Chelsea541

When I rushed out the house this morning, thinking I'll take my time to try and type a 'satisfactory reply' later in the day to try and help whoever replied to my response, I actually had similar thoughts to you. Why are people seemingly hovering over these threads waiting for answers to drop in their laps. Just contact the company directly. If you have and still need answers, contact them again. It's natural to be cautious, & sceptical especially around internet ads, but you literally have nothing to lose making those calls. They aren't trawling Mumsnet looking to answer all your questions, I don't know any company that does that.

I suspect you thought the last response was from me? Possibly. It wasn't.

If you contact them directly they can listen to your particular situation and gage whether their approach would work in your circumstances.

I reached out to them when I had tried all other avenues. I think that probably put me in a good state of mind to stick with it and until we saw results.

There is structure to the mentoring sessions but with the scope to tailor and adapt to the child's own needs/pace. The parent zoom sessions which run regularly, occasionally have a theme that the host has picked up is a common issue, but generally the learning and what each parent gets from it is more organic. Families talk about the day-to-day issues/challenges/concerns, and they are guided by how best to handle those as the parent, whilst their mentors take the children on a journey from awareness of what's going on, strategies to help them cope, gradual and then building 'facing their fears' type process and loads more depending on what each child struggles with. If a parent struggles with high anxiety themselves, they will provide 1-1 help for that also.
That doesn't do it anything like justice. It is intensive. It is a commitment. If you hear all about it and have any reservations, I would suggest don't do it. It needs the parents to be fully on board. You can't just pay and expect it all to just happen, the road back isn't that easy, I'm afraid.

I'm going to take myself off Mum. Good luck.

Hi! Agree completely with what you say. It takes a lot of work on yourself to help your child...it’s been quite life changing for both me and my husband. I’m leaving Mumsnet too - waste of time ;). I’ll see you on the daily zooms! 😘

One final point - 3 months ago I began paying for a service. I am more than pleased with that service, as are many others. As with any service, there will always be the odd person who is not. That’s life! Don’t like the sound of it? Then don’t do it. Simple. Bye all.

Teenminustests - my son’s mental health is fine, it’s his adrenaline levels that are very high which is why we are working to bring this down. He is now able to sit and eat with us, leave the house with us, walk himself to school and home again, go out with friends on the weekends, wear clothing and shoes without obsessing over it, have his hair cut and remain calm, he is sleeping better, his tic is much relieved and he is smiling again 😊. Still a long way to go, but a massive improvement 👍🏻.

Delighted to see such a strong turnout of the Robins' Cheerleading Squad - top marks for deciding who should use exclamation marks in moderation and who should adopt the use of emojis. Brilliant. And Synchronised Flouncing as well, very strong display.

"I have no idea why that is an issue for you"

The fact that someone can completely invent a back-story, pretend they have multiple years of experience, falsely claim their business has been in operation for many many years, and then go on to target desperate parents of vulnerable children with very manipulative sales tactics & eventually brag about how much money they're earning?

That's an 'issue' right there, for starters.

Mum So pleased that your DS has shown so much improvement.

What kind of things are you finding that help?

Things like breathing techniques and the 54321 technique have helped DD, alongside meds. The CBT therapist explained that because DD's amygdala has got over excited she finds things to be fearful of in order to explain the panic. Unfortunately for DD she has had quite a lot of trauma so there is reasons why she gets so panicked.

Interesting though that you are viewing it as a physical problem not a MH one? I view it as more an emotional/MH one than physical. DD needed the physical issues to be flattened to be able to cope on the mental aspects; but ultimately, surely unless you view the brain as 'just cells and hormones etc' then if the brain is telling someone that a situation is scary when there is no real risk, isn't that more mental health than anything?

It can't purely be physical surely, otherwise you would need physical interventions? It has to be more complex, like pain which you can control by medicine, but also by things like hypnotherapy.

Thank you both for the updates and trying to explain the process.
As far as why I haven’t been in touch with them again is two reasons on top of the list mentioned above in @TeenMinusTests post.

• I have had problems with other agency interventions making things worse, lots of reassurances are needed before I would expose her to that and none were received.
• There was a clear message in a Facebook rant that nobody from these social media sites who said negative things would be accepted as a client. There was no attitude of ‘winning us over’ but ranting messages so that doesn’t help win our business or trust either.

Actually I’ve just thought if number 3, the strange hidden messages that seemed to be directed at me in her video message that just increases the belief that the word ‘deranged’ used by someone else on here may actually have some validity.

Chelsea and mumof2teens. I don't speak for everyone on this thread but the things I am concerned about which haven't been addressed are:

1. Sharing of children's sensitive personal information on a public website, as a means of promoting the company.

1. Reactive and unprofessional replies to negative reviews on Trustpilot. This was compounded by the angry rant on the YCFF Facebook page and the strange video message mentioning comfysofa

1. Use of the "high ticket coaching" model which I believe is inappropriate for this type of service.

I have also seen numerous attempts at intimidation, manipulation and humiliation to try and shut down the conversation on this thread from people who came on to defend YCFF (peaky parents). And Martin Robins' callous comments on the High Ticket coaching academy Facebook page, about how much money they are raking in don't help either.

I certainly haven't spent any full days on this thread, but I have spent a little bit of time on it. Having experienced what it's like to be the parent of an anxious child, I know how vulnerable it can make you, and so I feel strongly that companies should not be exploiting this for financial gain. I also care about children's right to privacy.

I don't dispute that some families have had a positive experience with YCFF, but no company or organisation should be above scrutiny, especially when it comes to children's health. Any company worth its salt would be able to address criticism and questions in a straightforward and transparent way, and I've not seen any evidence of that from YCFF or Sam Robins.

I hope this week is going ok for your daughter teen and she’s made it in to college.

We have NOT spoken up in the last 3 months until now because this is not Mums having a CHAT.... It has been a vindictive, abusive and criminal pursuit to prevent, block and STOP other families having the ability to recover their children and we did not want to be a part of it - but it has now turned sinister and dark indeed.

The woman heading up this frenzied attack is indeed currently being taken to court by us (or counter sued should we say) We DO have the right in the UK to a fair trial , NOT to gain her money (we all agreed this would go towards a free family entry) but for DEFORMATION & SLANDER. We DO have the right for a JURY to decide - this will also enable us to prove our innocence and better still allow us to showcase what we actually do and why it costs so much and how our work is life changing and provides children and families RECOVERY. But you have NO IDEA what we do - because you have ALL just jumped on this band wagon of hatred.
It has now come to light that Mums Net have very slyly and secretively given the BBC (Radio 4) the opportunity to make a sensationalized story about Rogue Traders and Profiteering (peculiar as surely Mums Net and the BBC are the ONLY ones who will profiteer from stopping these families getting the help they need?)- Yes this is ACTUALLY the words used on the advert for their program. The British Broadcasting Company - who have not even SPOKEN to us have said we are Rogue Traders and Profiteering?
Weirdly also we have asked MNHQ several times to look at these disgraceful posts that are using MY personal details and giving away our address and private information.

Maybe we should have stood up for ourselves months ago?

This will no doubt produce a flurry of more abuse and another frenzied attack will be raged against us for us finally speaking out.
YES we have a cost associated to what we do? It costs a fortune to put on the level of infrastructure behind our work. Please come and look at our accounts, sit in on the sessions we have everyday, speak to Parents, speak to us - I can understand that Mums who cannot afford our work may feel bitter and excluded. But the BBC taking a side without a balanced investigation - and Mums Net allowing this damming witch hunt to continue is just shameful.
So I will close by saying my phone number is 07552 653925 Martin is on 07717 805492 you can email [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected] yes we have lots of different websites and adverts - this is not a crime we have used lots of brands over the years for different applications.
PLEASE COME FREE AND SPEND A WEEK WITH US AND SEE WHAT WE ACTUALLY DO - PLEASE? WHY NOT ACTUALLY COME AND SEE THE TRUTH?
To finally add we DO have families on our program who could never afford the cost, they are here with us free, we were able to start doing this for some families the more we grew - MN have almost facilitated the destruction of our team.
But the time has now come and we are going to fight back for the sakes of ALL the children and wonderful parents we have who have come to us and committed to the recovery of their families.
I wonder if MN would be SO KIND as to help us now to set the REAL STORY STRAIGHT and stop this profound defamation of our work.
Thank you for reading. Samantha Robins (www.peakyparents.com) and Kactus Kids and yes we are still Your Child Freedom Formula, because that is what we do and will continue to be doing - giving children back the freedom to wake up in the morning and feel happy and not scared. You can also email me at [email protected] because this is also something we have done for adults in the past too - I just love helping children and so this is what me and my team are doing - come and see for yourselves. The doors are open and we welcome and embrace you ALL to run a story the AMAZING work we a do.

That’s a shame that her very first post got deleted. Or at least, the first where she’s posted as herself.

mummab What I said in my previous post still stands. I don't speak for anyone else on this thread.

I didnt see Sam's comments so I don't know why they were deleted but there's a link to the talk guidelines on the deletion post.

Hi @Mibb2,
I will post it on behalf, it might get deleted but you might be able to see it.