Young Vibes/Satsie Thomas. New company set up by the same people as Your Child Freedom Formula and Peaky Parents

[Hols12345]

Hello, if you're looking for information on youngvibes.co.uk child anxiety program, they are the same people as YCFF and Peaky Parents. They've set up under a new name.

See previous thread for discussion:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/child_adolescent_mental_health/4352676-Peaky-Parents-Kactus-Kids-formerly-known-as-Your-Child-Freedom-Programme-YCFF-and-other-previous-names-Child-anxiety-programme

www.definefine.org.uk

Good idea to post these groups here. Notfineinschool is a great FB group, with a website and free resources. ‘Never Let Go’ by Suzanne (sorry can’t remember her last name) is a fantastic book to help parents of teens with mental health issues. I’ll post up others I have 5 minutes.

Not fine in school used to upsell and signpost to costly services. For local 100% free peer led parent support have a look at the network map on the Charlie Waller Trust website charliewaller.org/place-parent-support

They are repugnant people who took full advantage of us. They promised the world and delivered nothing but stress and inappropriate interactions. Horrible people. They said the craziest stuff to our daughter and to us. Sam is not well. She would send incessant videos whenever a thought occurred to her. I told them before I signed up that my daughter and I have ADHD and THEY ASSURED us they knew how to manage that. They would not send a reminder. they would not do anything to support nuerodiversity. LOOK AT CONNECTIONSIN MIND. They know how to support neurodiversity. Sam and Martin have not been formally trained in any of this. I do not live in the country anymore and so I am not worried about their lawsuit threats. If you speak the truth, they threaten you. THEY ARE NOT QUALIFIED and not professional. Royal Marsden told us my husband was dying of Leptomeningeal Disease after we signed up for Young Vibes. THEY DID NOTHING to help us as they were not prepared or skilled in knowing how because they are not trained.
And the program I got on to listen to the therapist speak, everything she was saying was wrong according to the training I have had in this space as a teacher. Look at Dr. Becky Kennedy for help. Notice the DR. in front of Becky Kennedy. IT MATTERS.

RUN AWAY FROM Martin and Sam. They are like the nasty, uneducated couple in Les Miserables who were supposed to take care of Cosette but are only out for money. They do not care about people. These people want money, they do not want to support you. These people made our life SO STRESSFUL and we paid 5,000 pounds like a bunch of morons. My husband had Melanoma and just when he recovered, they thought it spread to his brain. Sam accused me of lying, had ZERO compassion. Who does that??? What mental health professional goes after people?????? One that is not well. That is who. My daughter could not STAND Sam. She got off one call with her and said "She is crazy. If you want me to get on again just to laugh at the crazy things she says, but she will not help me." She told my daughter a lot of really inappropriate things about her diabetes and about Martin and Sam stealing towels from the hotel on their summer holiday camping as it started raining and so they had to pay 90 pounds for the hotel. Sam denies all of this. My daughter COULD NEVER make up all of these details and Sam refuses to give us the recording.

Try Becky Kennedy Instagram posts or Connections in Mind in England. NO REPUTABLE COMPANY CHANGES THEIR NAME. Companies work years to get their brand known and trusted. Branding is everything. Only snakes selling snake oil change their name incessantly. These people will threaten you with their son and say he is their lawyer and blah blah blah. So unprofessional. Literally the worst people. I saw the red flags but I did it anyway. Still so mad at myself.

I’m a qualified MH professional and I’ve never seen the Notfineinschool Team promote or upsell anything. Not sure if there’s another group with a similar name? Beth and her team do a huge amount of good - including constantly lobbying MPs to try and change how education is delivered in the UK. I tend to point anyone suspicious out if I notice (I use the group to keep up with the latest legislation, etc).

It’s terrible to prey on parents at their most vulnerable. I know others who have done the same thing as you, and paid lots of money. They must pay a lot for the FB ads as they seem to
pop up all the time…

I don’t know if we’re talking about the same thing. I’m talking about Young Vibes and all the different names they’ve called themselves. You have to look for Sam and Martin Robins. They are unprofessional and untrustworthy and unprincipled so much havoc in so many peoples lives. You can look up the BBC program about them

This is the group most of us have been fully taken advantage by. https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/fileon4/PAJ_2707_PG13_Mental_Health_Profiteers.pdf

they promised refunds but never give them as they always find a reason why it is “ The parents fault” and not their fault. They took a Facebook marketing class and looked for a business to do during Covid as their other business appears to have failed. They have been in trouble with Trade standards and refuse to give people their subject access request too. They accused me of lying and said they would reveal it in the video as they record everything and then refused to give me the video. They said they record them but then lie. A business that requires you to lie incessantly about who you are, what you will do and how you will do it, and to promise things you are under qualified to offer, you wreak havoc in lives. They change their name, they send threatening emails to people. Sam attacked me so many times AND she is the supposed mental health support. She caused me to have a me too health crisis. I could t sleep I was so upset about the money we wasted. She told me I was telling people on mumsnet about my husband’s cancer to wallow and lie. Really????? Really????? I have all the emails. I posted them and she threatened to sue me. Looks like somebody else posted a few of them above. These people are a for profit disgrace. No license. No formal education. Sam says inappropriate things about autism all the time. Useless program. Horrible people. I’m sure they will email me now and threaten me once again. They sued the woman who spoke on her BBC program.

Sadly, they have freed on many many people. I’ve talked to several parents behind the scenes, and these people are really, really disgusting. Unprofessional. Unqualified. We needed help. They brought problems. My daughter went to a therapist on our town and loved her. Sam frequently says horrible those about therapists and . She says that she can only she has the solutions that Psychiatrist schools therapists are all and can’t of anything but she can.

And again, what kind of a mental healthcare provider threatens people for sharing their opinions on their business?

They have also promoted parents as you can see in the BBC report to going into debt to fund. Going into debt just causes anxiety, but they were willing to push people to go into debt to join their program. Absolutely disgusting.

Hi @star75 I'm so glad this thread stopped you wasting your time and money. It is shocking, I cant understand how they keep going and how they haven't been in serious trouble. Avoid like the plague, especially if there is any nuerodivergance diagnosed or suspected. They DO NOT have any idea about autism, ADHA etc and everything they say and write proves that.

I agree with everything you say!

Luckily no one seems to be engaging with her on LinkedIn.

Its horrific to see all your experiences from this. I am thinking of reporting to BBC anonymously, is that a good idea and would anyone be open to sharing their story if it comes to it.

The BBC did the story already. I’ve been in touch with the reporter. They don’t seem to have the time or resources to do it again. Another idea is a collective law suit but the desperation that these people have with rebranding seems to suggest they might not have money or maybe they keep doing this because they are gaining so much money. When I told them I was unhappy with the program, was uncomfortable with the inappropriate things Sam said to our daughter in the only session she had with her, Sam sent some “big weight” to threaten me which is actually just them using the name of their son. The whole thing is a charade. A scam. An abuse of trust.

Currently in the USA, we have a political party that fear mongers and always uses phrases like “you can’t trust them or anybody, just me.” That is the fear tactic of this ugly organization. You can’t trust doctors, or schools, or therapists, or psychiatrists. You can only trust us.” The Us is two unqualified, uneducated individuals who took a Facebook marketing class and tried to find an area of need during the pandemic and aftermath.

Nobody can or should trust these people. The only reason we paid what we did is that they GUARANTEED money back. What they do not mention is that then they will throw all of these qualifiers about what “healing” is and tell you that you didn’t do the work. They love to blame parents. As others have mentioned, if you need more support or adaptation they get angry. I think for me, I challenged what I saw that did not make sense it was not effective or was lacking. I asked that they send a text or email reminders for us with ADHD for the weekly appointment. When you have questions, they shame and blame. These people should not be anywhere near families struggling. Sam does not like to be challenged because she is the Emperor with no clothes and as people ask questions, the charade is revealed so she gets defensive and angry and blames. DARVO is her go to response to protect her farce. She wants obedient sheep that see her as the all knowing Guru.

They were unwilling to send a simple text or email reminder. The tech was clunky and hard to use. Sam has not put all of the points of the program in simple terms , it is video after video of babbling and then they send even more videos so you can never catch up. The mentors come and go without warning (anxiety producing for our daughter). You can tell how angry I still at myself for paying to have someone add more stress, more drama, more difficulty to our lives. Go out for ice cream once a week with your child with no phones and talk and then walk in nature. And look at Charlie Waller and others mentioned here.

I just thought I should update this thread as Young Vibes adverts are popping up all over my Facebook feed at the moment. Mainly under the title "Child Anxiety/School Refusal".

I have again seen some shockingly sarcastic, rude and and unpleasant responses to anyone who questions or challenges Sam Robins/her organisation, however politely. Sometimes she is less direct - more passive-aggressive - or simply ignores what is being asked. Always there is the same drive to get people to join a call to find out more.

No sign that they have changed their practices. In fact in a recent post she's explicitly said that they don't believe qualifications are relevant to what they do and they explicitly don't want to 'join the herd' and 'most certainly are not registered anywhere'.

I do understand that if you have been let down by other professionals and/or the NHS/schools then someone who says stuff like this may be appealing. Or at least worth a try. But the psychological wellbeing of families (and individuals) is complex and it can be harmed as well as helped. This company is asking to be let into families' innermost lives with the claim that they can 'recover' children, but where is the evidence or oversight that they will be safe, non-harmful influence on someone's family?

Being different from 'the herd' doesn't make someone safe, knowledgeable, empathetic or trustworthy. In fact, all the evidence I have seen suggests that Young Vibes is the exact opposite of these things: the many many accounts of families here, the BBC radio documentary 'Mental Health Profiteers', their ongoing business practices, and ignorance, seen on FB, their total regard of any form of oversight or training from other organisations, and the Advertising Standards Agency finding against them for false advertising (search 'Tomwill Holdings').

I write this as someone who has been through family therapy with a fully qualified and registered member of a professional body, who therefore had to abide by a strict code of conduct as to how they work with families. I know how vulnerable families are when they are considering - and going through - therapy or mental health support. I wish there were stricter legal protections for families in these situations, but at present it is down to people offering services (ie people like Young Vibes) to voluntarily register with professional bodies. That makes it super important for families to do their research before signing up.

I think there’s a fine line between making people aware of your services and actively seeking out vulnerable families for profit. I also don’t believe you need to trawl groups for business if you’re good at your job - recommendation is the best form of advertising for both families and mental health professionals. If you need to frequently change your name and employ a heavy marketing campaign that in itself raises alarm bells.

It's interesting that this thread is still going. A couple of years ago I did some freelance work illustrating a Satsie Thomas book. I'm a bit annoyed my name is now out there, associated with a business that's clearly disreputable. I almost worked on a follow up book (which doesn't seem to have materialised), but upon reading the supplied text I had some major problems with the messaging; one passage encouraged the child to go out and try to actively incite a panic attack, the assumption being the 'training' would prevent it happening. I felt this was so irresponsible and shocking, I realised I did not want to work with them further so I left the job. After that I did my due diligence (which I should have done in the first place) and discovered all this!

FYI, some of the earlier messages (a couple of years ago) from Mumsnet users supporting the business were, in my opinion, obviously written by Sam under the guise of a 'user'. The cadence, the emphasis, grammar and use of CAPITALS all over the place were identical to the text I'd received for the two books.

I hope everyone here is in a better place than earlier in the thread. I makes me sad that there's evidently snake oil even in the care industry.

This is very interesting. Yes, I noticed the same things about the cadence of Sam. She has made a lot of fake reviews on Trust Pilot as well with her same exclamation laden type cadence where everything is GREAT! MARVELOUS! Life changing and other BS that mimics exactly the tone and wording on the website. ALSO, make sure to notice HOW MANY REVIEWS the positive reviewers have written. Usually 1. Just for Sam and Martin's companies, whatever they are called at the time. I have written 60 reviews on Trustpilot and hundreds on GOOGLEMAPS. I love calling out people for doing great work. I also feel the responsibility to let people know about my experience with a company when it has been awful. I NO LONGER TRUST Trustpilot. Many of us have reported the suspicious activity and they never do anything. After any negative review, SUDDENLY several 5 star reviews show up. ALWAYS SEE HOW MANY REVIEWS 5 star reviewers have written. And if it is negative, look and see if EVERYTHING this person writes is negative. Both extremes exist.

And yes, the thread is still going because sadly, The Robbins are too. At least they are not charging huge fees upfront anymore. While we were in the program, they started lowering the prices but did not adjust anything for those already in the program. If you signed up early, you were DOUBLE punished. Paid more for the terrible experience, sub par tech, unprofessional behavior, unmet promises, overload of repetitive videos and bad advice in the online parent groups.

I can only speak on my own behalf but you arent thought of in any negative way for being involved briefly with this company. We were involved as 'customers' briefly, paid a fortune as Nettie said, and had an awful experience. Like you we should have done our due diligence first!

I know what you mean about 'inciting' a panic attack. It was a bit like now you know what anxiety is you can deal with the experience. This is being put onto children, young adults, vulnerable young people and neurodivergent young people with no real thought to the consequences. For some it will work. For more it wont.

Also, you can recognise Sam/Martin's narrative. Their website and emails when we were involved were terribly written - grammar, punctuation and the use of capitals.

I'm sure you wish you hadn't got involved now, so do we.