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

In the first video on this page Sam claims that adrenaline can stop children from going through puberty and they have treated sets of twins where one twin has gone through puberty and the other has not.

www.youngvibes.co.uk/copy-of-meet-the-team

There's also a banner on their website saying "under new management" but no further details.

Where on earth has she got that idea from? Have you seen all the trust pilot reviews calling us nay sayers? I thought that trust pilot account had been blocked for misusing reviews. Or maybe that was peaky parents.

And assuming us nay sayers have not been on the programme. We have!! And were begged to leave Trust Pilot reviews for them because of all the "trolls" putting then down. Honestly I'd have nothing to say if I didn't have first hand experience, I've not got that much spare time on my hands, I have much better things to do with it too! She says we are blocking children from getting help. I believe we are warning parents to be wary and choose carefully if this is right for them. If you have a diagnosis of autism etc. be very wary.

Fundamental lack of understanding about ASD and ADHD + misinformation in this video which IMO could actively prevent / discourage people from seeking help for themselves or their child.

I don't really know where to start but feel so powerless to stop this. I'm blocked from commenting on their videos on FB so I'm assuming many others are too. Comments disappear once blocked and they block VERY quickly.

Sam would maybe say that she doesn't need to have any knowledge or understanding of ASD / ADHD as they do not treat those "mental health conditions" (Sam's words).

m.facebook.com/Youngvibesuk/videos/autism-and-adhd-explained-in-this-video/2382913135184894/?_rdr

Fundamental lack of understanding about ASD and ADHD + misinformation in this video which IMO could actively prevent / discourage people from seeking help for themselves or their child.

I don't really know where to start but feel so powerless to stop this. I'm blocked from commenting on their videos on FB so I'm assuming many others are too. Comments disappear once blocked and they block VERY quickly.

Sam would maybe say that she doesn't need to have any knowledge or understanding of ASD / ADHD as they do not treat those "mental health conditions" (Sam's words).

m.facebook.com/Youngvibesuk/videos/autism-and-adhd-explained-in-this-video/2382913135184894/?_rdr

Sorry for posting twice!

@Hols12345 completely agree. I’m also blocked from commenting. I am a codirector for a CIC who support parents of cyp with mental health issues (& sadly lived experience of my own), I haven’t personally bought their service but have firsthand knowledge of parents who have and I can’t stress enough the need to stop more vulnerable, desperate families from buying into their rubbish. ☹️

I have to agree with this that something has to be done to stop this, as a 'subscriber' of their service (an unhappy one) I feel something has to be done to warn other parents. The stuff I hear on here and first hand on the zoom calls is appalling and just dangerous. I'd like to say more but at the moment I cannot. I'm just appalled, I really am.

You are not the only one and I understand you not wanting to say more at the moment. I felt like I was pulling away from almost cultish behaviour! Their non-believe in diagnoses is very dangerous and some of the things they pressure vulnerable parents into doing is not right. Like you say it could be dangerous.

Sorry to hear you’ve had that experience, safe.

I noticed this thread's last post was a bit over a month ago so not sure if anyone will see this. I'm wondering what to do....

Some background -
I came across Young Vibes aka Child Anxiety Recovery as a FB ad on my feed last month. As a parent of a child who has recovered from severe anxiety and school avoidance through long term work with a qualified and regulated family therapist I was really shocked and angry at the 'hard sell' approach which this company seemed to be taking. I posted a comment asking for more info about their qualifications and regulatory body. I was quickly advised to book in a call.

I then explained that actually I was no longer a potential customer but was concerned they were quite aggressively marketing to really vulnerable parents (I know how desperate I was for help six years ago). I was measured and polite though. They immediately switched off all comments, and later deleted the ad.

Later I discovered about their history, the BBC radio programme, found this thread etc. I was, frankly, horrified. I left a 1-star review on Trustpilot about my experiences dealing with them on FB and referenced the Mental Health Profiteers episode. They have tried twice to get it taken down (claiming it was illegal, then claiming it was defamatory). I supplied detailed evidence to Trustpilot and (at the moment at least) it's still there.

Today - they are back on my FB feed as "Anxiety and School Refusal". It breaks my heart to be honest to see people tag their friends and ask for help, when I know they are being promised the moon on a stick by an organisation that is deeply unethical at best, and really dangerous/harmful at worst.

What to do? I see others here have been blocked from commenting on their ads. As far as I know I am not (yet). So I could do that. Someone mentioned the idea of starting a group to try to share real experiences and protect potential new families. I wondered about contacting the journalists who made the BBC episode.

I do understand that some families may have found Young Vibes method helped them (hard to know how many, there seem to be armies of Trustpilot reviewers, FB commentators?). But surely the principle of doing no harm is vital.

Any thoughts? I don't have much time (who does?!) but it's really bugging me and it feels really important to try to do something, however small.

I don't know. The more I hear about them the worse they seem.
I haven't been involved with them directly and I have no fight in me beyond my DD.
Good luck.

Thanks TeenDivided. That's the thing, isn't it - it is exhausting being in the thick of it. Good luck to you too.

It's a really awful situation. I've commented previously under their adverts and was bombarded into my inbox on messenger with threats of all sorts. I still see the ads and the sheer numbers of vulnerable parents commenting that they're interested. Makes me want to shout! I have dm'd a couple of parents to suggest they seek out the PLACE network within the Charlie Waller Trust as we have groups networked across the UK who provide local peer support/resources/training/groups etc to parents and carers of children and young people with mental health issues.

I’m not sure what can be done but they should be shut down, they are not professionals in the field of mental illnesses, anxiety disorders etc etc. they are a money making business and use scare tactics to get you signed up. Collectively we should do something to stop them.

@Perfectstorm72 that’s awful! The threats I mean. Can you still see them in Messenger/do you have any record of them? I’m sort of vaguely thinking about whether we could compile a file of evidence and supply to someone with a bigger voice, perhaps?

I was also thinking about writing a letter to a newspaper - maybe the Guardian as they have had quite a lot of things (specifically a recent editorial) about children’s mental health.

I also know that the therapist who helped us was warned of them by her professional organisation. I’m not sure whether there could be any merit in contacted them to see if they have any appetite for raising the issue more widely.

@safethelastdanceforme have you had personal experience of them? Sorry - you’ve probably said somewhere on this thread already. I’ll go and look now.

@safethelastdanceforme sorry I have just seen your post now. Sounds bad 😞Are you still in the programme?

Hi yes I have

Hiya, there is a lot of screenshots of evidence on these threads if you can face trawling through hundreds of messages sandrose. I got pretty disheartened and stopped posting because I could see in real time how they changed and adapted the way they presented themselves bases on these threads. We were acting as a free focus group for them. I felt exactly like you, having been through this with two kids. I'd be happy to help compile a file of evidence but I'm wary of identitifying myself to the Robinses. I have also been blocked on Facebook for one comment 🤷

@Sandrose thanks for your post. I see their FB adverts and want to scream BEWARE at all the people commenting! I do have experience of this company and lost a lot of money. I remain frustrated, let down and angry by the whole experience.

I might be a good idea to get some action started but I have no idea where to begin. With all the evidence out there I could get a refund if I'd paid with a credit card but unfortunately I didn't.

@Perfectstorm72 it seems they will block any negative comments and shut down pages frequently which seems so wrong. I haven't commented on FB because of this. I want to keep an eye on them.

There is definitely a case to be had against them.

@Perfectstorm72 the Place network looks brilliant. Well worth sharing widely, you could put more information here for people looking for help?

Place network parent support

I'm in Scotland and was lucky to be part of a pilot scheme of a CAMHS run group for parents of anxious children. The peer support was amazing. I wrote about it on one of the previous threads under my other username Mibb2.

Ps there's also a thread I started in AIBU to try and get this to a wider audience.

Never sure if linking to another thread is allowed but here is the other thread I started.

Great - well done! 🙌

Thanks for all the replies. I've been spending some time reading through all the old threads. Wow... it's depressing But I also see that lots of people have been trying to raise awareness of the issues - which is definitely valuable in itself.

@safethelastdanceforme so sorry I completely missed what you'd said about your experience only a few posts back

I'm giving a bit of thought to what I might be able to do, aside from contributing to discussions here.