Hello!
Therapy is often a very vulnerable experience - you're sharing your thoughts and experiences with another person. That's why having a therapeutic connection with your therapist is an important piece of therapy.
As you learn more about me, my clinical experiences, and how I approach therapy, I hope it helps you decide that you'd like to work with me to achieve your wellness goals!
My Bio - TL;DR Version:
Tamara Hubbard, MA, LCPC, is a licensed clinical professional counselor who specializes in food allergy counseling for parents and therapy for women and mothers navigating anxiety, stress, and life transitions.
She holds a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy and brings a family-systems perspective to her work while practicing under her LCPC license.
Tamara provides virtual psychotherapy for clients in Illinois, Florida, and Ohio, and also offers non-therapeutic, educational food allergy consultations for adults and parents nationwide.
She is the author of May Contain Anxiety (Johns Hopkins University Press), a national speaker, and provides education and resources for the food allergy community through FoodAllergyCounselor.com and her Psychology Today blog.
Training & Experience
​​License:
​​Master's degree in marriage and family therapy; a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in IL with over 20 years of clinical experience; I hold an additional LCPC license in Ohio, and a telehealth license in Florida.
Education/Training:
Masters of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from Adler School of Professional Psychology; ​Bachelor of Science in Education
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Post-Graduate Training:
PSI/2020 Mom Maternal Mental Health Certificate (​not certified); 30+ hours of ACT Theory workshops; 2-Day intensive on treating child/adolescent anxiety; Gottman Level 1 Training module (Couples Therapy); Narrative Therapy seminars
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Clinical Experience:
Various levels of care, including hospital (inpatient and outpatient), partial and intensive outpatient programs (PHP/IOP), community agency, and private practice settings. ​Experience working with parents, couples, families, groups, and individual clients [adolescent through adulthood]
Affiliations:
Member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS); Illinois Counseling Association; Allied Health Professional member of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology​ (AAAAI).
My Approach to Therapy
As my therapy client, I'll meet you where you're at in your life - after all, this is your journey! Together, we'll establish a treatment plan that helps you better manage struggles, understand your values, achieve your goals, and learn important skills to help you with all of this.
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Overall Therapeutic Goals:
I aim to help my clients understand and be open to their thoughts and emotions, as well as gain clarity in their life, tap into their own strengths, and build the skills needed to move forward - towards the life they envisioned, even in the face of struggles, challenges, and obstacles.
Therapeutic Approaches:
I utilize a variety of counseling methodologies, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Family Systems, and Solution-Focused Therapy to assist my clients in living the life they want and building skills that help with coping, decision-making, growing resilience and becoming psychologically flexible (able to surf life's waves and cope when life is life-ing).
Clinical Focuses:
My particular clinical interests include women's wellness, motherhood and parenthood, stress/anxiety management, phase of life transitions, life changes, and food allergy anxiety counseling for food allergy parents and caregivers. (Note: I don't focus on severe depression or suicidal ideations, and will refer out to practitioners who do focus on these clinical areas).
My Thoughts on Life:
Life presents us with challenges along the way whether we want them or not - that's life doing what life does! Rather than thinking about these challenges in terms of failures or successes, it's useful to see them as opportunities to makes choices to learn and grow from. By doing so, this helps us from staying stuck in the struggles. Life truly is a series of stories that you help shape. So if there’s a particular chapter you don’t like, you have the choice to alter its meaning or outcome. Even when you think altering your story isn’t possible, it is!
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My Thoughts on Therapy:
Therapy can be both proactive and situation or time-specific in nature. Some may think counseling is solely for those dealing with serious mental health concerns or intense situations. But therapy can also be beneficial for a variety of life's scenarios and tasks - to help navigate stress, challenges, decisions, relationships, and visions for the future. Coaching and offering guidance are additional valuable aspects of counseling that therapists are qualified to offer as part of therapy. I truly enjoy helping others understand themselves and their situations better so that they can gain the insight and confidence needed to make adjustments or move forward in a direction that aligns best with their values and visions.
Food Allergy-Specific Experience
Food Allergy Parent:
I am the mom of a child managing a food allergy. Therefore, I get it - I know firsthand what it's like to navigate life with this chronic condition as part of the family system. I understand the daily stress, the overwhelming feelings, and the need to find reliable, evidence-based food allergy information in order to develop an allergy management plan that allows you to balance vigilance and living your best life.
Committee /Advisory Board Member & Allergy Mental Health Expert:
Identified as a thought leader in the allergy field, I am listed as an allergy mental health and counseling expert on Psychwire's "Ask the Expert" section, which features answers from world-leading experts in behavioral science. I am also active on a number of committees for both the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI), and am an advisory board member for the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research (CFAAR), Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE), and Seedling.
Honors and Recognition:
I am recognized on Spokin's "Top 100 Women in Allergy" list. I've also been highlighted via a feature article in Healio's "Women in Allergy" series. Additionally, the food allergy mental health resources and content I've created are often shared internationally and mentioned in provider and community presentations and podcasts in the allergy field.
Speaker:
I regularly present at national and international conferences and lead virtual education webinars focused on food allergy mental health, parenting, family systems, and mindset for both patient and provider populations. Additionally, I have developed allergy mental health and psychosocial education modules for health care provider training courses both in the US and Canada. See a full and growing list of my speaking experiences and projects here.
Author and writer:
My debut book, May Contain Anxiety: Managing the Overwhelm of Parenting Children with Food Allergies was published by the prestigious Johns Hopkins University Press in September 2025. I've also co-authored a medical journal chapter titled Psychosocial Impacts of Allergic Disease and Integration of Mental Health Care into Food Allergy Practices, a collaborative AAAAI paper published in JACI-IP. My Psychology Today blog will launch in late 2025/early 2026. Additionally, I regularly contribute to other outlets including Healio and have written articles for the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and Allergy & Asthma Network websites. I'm also regularly quoted, and have been quoted and interviewed for articles in mainstream outlets including: Healthline, Medscape, SELF Magazine, Forbes, Business Insider, Nature, Allergic Living Magazine, Coping with Allergies and Asthma, and Counseling Today.
Content & Resource Creator:
I founded the first and only food allergy-informed therapist directory and the Academy of Food Allergy Counseling, a professional therapist network, both of which are well-respected with patients and providers in the allergy community. Additionally, through my resource company/brand, The Food Allergy Counselor, I've written many articles on food allergy mental health topics, and developed resources including a podcast and food allergy mental health and mindset worksheets for patients and providers. Visit The Food Allergy Counselor website to learn more about what I'm up to, to explore all of the food allergy emotional wellness content I've created, including worksheets, articles, and my podcast, and to sign up to receive tips, resources, and news you can use!
In the Media....
Where I've been quoted, where I've spoken, what I've authored, and who I work with. Visit my LinkedIn profile to learn more.
Quoted In....
Healthline, Medscape, SELF Magazine, Forbes, Business Insider, Nature, Healio, HealthCentral, Counseling Today, Science News for Students, and Real Simple Magazine (print)
Spoken at....
AAAAI Annual Meeting, ACAAI Annual Meeting, FARE's Annual Summit, FAACT events, and many national and support group webinars
Authored....
Authored articles for Healio, Allergic Living and Coping magazines, "Social and Emotional Impacts of Allergic Disease" (for ACAAI), co-authored multiple medical journal articles, my Psychology Today blog, and my book, May Contain Anxiety (Johns Hopkins University Press).
Advisor/Consultant for....
The Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research (CFAAR), and Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE)
Food Allergy Resources Created By Me
