Food Allergy Parent Counseling
Therapy for Food Allergy Parents
For those parenting a child or teen managing food allergies and allergic diseases, counseling with an allergy-informed mental health care provider can be life-changing.
Here are common reasons allergy parents reach out to me for food allergy counseling:
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You find it challenging to cope with your child's food allergy diagnosis and want to work towards accepting the diagnosis so you're not in constant struggle with sadness and anger.
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You find yourself struggling with intense and ongoing food allergy anxiety or worry which impacts your daily functioning and pushes you to limit your child or teen's activities due to fear of allergic reactions.
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You notice that food allergy anxiety and stress limits yourself and your family from enjoying things you'd like to experience, such as eating out at restaurants, traveling, and being social.
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Your child or teen recently had an allergic reaction or experienced anaphylaxis, and you're struggling to help them move forward due to your own fear about another reaction.
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You need guidance on navigating family gatherings and social scenarios, developing self-advocacy skills in yourself or your child, and/or communicating your food allergy rules to others.
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Your child or teen are undergoing oral food challenges and/or oral immunotherapy and you're feeling very anxious in preparation for or throughout the process.
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You're already managing a diagnosed anxiety disorder (such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder) and find it hard to manage food allergy anxiety as well.
Food Allergy Parent Therapy with Tamara
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Food allergy counseling is for parents or caregivers. (I do not work with children or teens; if you're looking for food allergy counseling for your child or teen, visit the Food Allergy Counseling Directory)
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Counseling sessions are 50-60 minutes long and conducted virtually through a HIPAA-compliant platform; see the What to Expect section for more details on therapy sessions, insurance coverage, etc.
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Together, we will identify therapy goals focused on anxiety and stress management, adjusting to your child's allergy diagnosis, and developing skills to help you take a balanced approach to food allergy parenting and living with food allergy
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We will explore strategies to help you and your family live a full life even with food allergies or allergic conditions
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We will develop your personalized toolkit, filled with mindfulness skills, coping tools, and mindset strategies
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You'll walk away from our work together feeling more empowered and able to navigate life as a food allergy parent!
Why Work with Tamara
As a food allergy mom traveling a similar path, I truly understand how you're feeling. Therefore, from the start of our work together, you'll feel understood, and your very real thoughts and emotions will be validated.
As an allied health member of both the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, and the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology who presents internationally on allergy mental health and emotional wellness, I stay on top of best practices in allergy and immunology, and have relationships with many allergists and allied healthcare providers. Therefore, I have deep knowledge of IgE-mediated food allergy and related allergic conditions, which means I can help you process allergy information and develop clarifying questions for your health care team.
As a clinical counselor with more than 20 years of clinical experience and a graduate degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, I understand mental health conditions, lifestyle adjustments, and their impacts on family systems. Therefore, I am able to focus not only on individual therapeutic needs, but also the needs of the entire family system, even when not working with the whole family.
Using various therapeutic approaches, I aim to help allergic clients build skills that allow them to find a balance between allergy anxiety and a meaningful quality of life. The primary modalities used include:
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) - Focuses on increasing psychological flexibility to allow people to act in accordance with their values, even during stressful and challenging moments in life.
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) - Focuses on identifying and adjusting unhelpful thoughts, feelings and actions, and can include exposure therapy work to decrease intensity of anxiety and fears.
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Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) - Goal-directed collaborative approach which incorporates Positive Psychology principles and practices;.
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Systems/Family Systems Theory - Focuses on problem-solving through the lens of relationships, dynamics and patterns that exist within families.
I'm looking forward to working together!
Food Allergy Resources I've Created
Let's Connect!
Are you a woman, mom, or allergy parent interested in working together? Reach out via this contact form to get the process started!
Therapy Services: IL residents only - no current availability (may be open again in the fall; will update when I am)
Consulting Services: Anywhere - have current availability
Visit the Food Allergy Counseling Directory (which I founded) to find other FA-informed therapists.