Don't Feed the Fear: Allergy Anxiety & Trauma

Send us Fan Mail Food allergy research is constantly evolving, but what do these studies actually mean for families making treatment decisions? In this episode of Don't Feed the Fear , I welcome Dr. Lianne Soller Allergy Research Manager at BC Children's Hospital in Canada to help us make sense of the evidence behind food allergy immunotherapy and where the field is headed. Together, we...

Send us Fan Mail Every family approaches food allergy treatment differently, and that's exactly as it should be. In this episode, psychologist and food allergy mom I sit down with Ina Chung, creator of @TheAsianAllergyMom to discuss one of the most overlooked aspects of treatment decisions: giving yourself permission to choose the path that aligns with your family's goals, values, and se...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, UK allergist Prof. Adam Fox joins us to explore the emotional and psychosocial layers of oral immunotherapy. Dr. Fox shares how he approaches difficult conversations with honesty and compassion, including addressing guilt about management decisions and understanding risk and side effects during treatment.  Dr. Fox gives us important insights and emotional validati...

Send us Fan Mail Beneath our wishes, we often discover important clues about our values, needs, fears, hopes, griefs, and the parts of ourselves that may not receive enough attention in everyday life. When was the last time you used your imagination, not to solve a problem or make a plan, but to better understand yourself? This guided Magic Wand Exercise invites you to set aside what is practical,...

Send us Fan Mail What would your child change if they had a magic wand? What would they wish for? What would they want the adults in their life to understand? The Magic Wand Exercise is one of my favorite tools for helping children express thoughts, feelings, worries, hopes, and needs that can sometimes be difficult to put into words directly. This gentle, guided exercise invites children to use t...

Send us Fan Mail This month, the tables are turned. In this special episode, psychologist, food allergy mom, and friend Dr. Elizabeth Hawkins joins the podcast as guest host to interview me about my new book, From Fear to Freedom: A Workbook for Navigating Allergy Immunotherapy . We discuss the personal and professional experiences that inspired the book, the challenges families face when consider...

Send us Fan Mail We covered what OIT is last week. This week? We’re talking about what it’s not. Dr. Tom Chacko joins me to bust common myths about oral immunotherapy and answer the questions families ask in his clinic and on social media every day. Dr. Chacko gives us his honest and direct perspective on: -When not pursuing OIT could be a missed opportunity or even a disservice to a patient -How...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we begin a deep dive into specific food allergy immunotherapy treatments with a conversation about (OIT). Dr. Doug Jones, one of the early pioneers of OIT in the United States, joins us to discuss how it looks in real clinical practice, and how to think about risk, predictability, and control in food allergy management. As treatment options expand, patients and cl...

Send us Fan Mail In this solo episode, I’m wrapping up an incredibly meaningful awareness month by taking you behind the scenes of the advocacy events, conferences, legislation, research, and community moments that left me feeling hopeful about the future of food allergies and chronic illness care. From the Food Allergy Fund Summit in New York City, to advocacy days in Washington DC and Albany, th...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the podcast, I’m joined by filmmaker and advocate Mandi Kearns of Just Like You Films to discuss the upcoming food allergy docudrama, May Contain: My Life. This conversation explores not only the making of the film, but the emotional realities behind it: parenting through food allergies, navigating fear and resilience, sibling experiences, emergency situations, advoca...

Send us Fan Mail In this special Allergy & Asthma Awareness Month episode, psychologist and food allergy advocate Dr. Amanda Whitehouse sits down with Kenny Mendez, President and CEO of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), for a conversation about advocacy, policy change, and the future of support for the allergy and asthma community. Together, they discuss the emotional and pr...

Send us Fan Mail FPIES (Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome) is a type of food allergy that often goes unrecognized, leaving families confused, dismissed, and searching for answers. In this episode, I’m joined by iFPIES founder Fallon Schultz, MSW, LCSW, to explore both the clinical and lived experience of FPIES. Fallon shares her personal story, the challenges of navigating a diagnosis th...

Send us Fan Mail Environmental allergies can significantly impact daily life, from chronic congestion and itchy eyes to sleep disruption and reduced quality of life. If daily medications aren't enough, there are longer-term treatment options available. In this episode, pediatric allergist Dr. Manisha Relan joins us to break down two forms of allergen immunotherapy: SCIT (allergy shots) and SL...

Send us Fan Mail My second guest for this special podcast season guiding listeners through the immunotherapy process welcomes back Dr. David Stukus, Director of the Food Allergy Treatment Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio and  President-Elect of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI). Dr. Stukus shares his clinical approach to preparing patie...

Send us Fan Mail We are living in an exciting time in food allergy medicine with multiple treatment options to choose some and likely more on the way soon. But more options can also mean more overwhelm. I've invited some of the world's foremost experts in allergy to join me for this exciting season guiding us through these choices and decisions to lead us from overwhelm to confidence. In...

Send us Fan Mail This season we are discussing options in food allergies. This week's episode begins a deep dive into one of the most complex and emotional parts of living with food allergies: treatment options. With more treatment options available than ever before, patients and families are facing decisions that are both hopeful and overwhelming. These choices are not just medical. They are...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I'm joined by Scott Lyman, CEO and Co-Founder of Belhaven BioPharma, to discuss Nasdepi®, an investigational dry powder epinephrine nasal spray currently in development for the treatment of anaphylaxis. Nasdepi® is designed as a needle-free alternative to traditional auto-injectors, with early clinical data suggesting rapid absorption and strong temperature s...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Vivian Hernandez-Trujillo, board-certified allergist and food allergy mom and patient, for a grounded and practical conversation about epinephrine confidence. We talk about what it’s like to manage food allergies both personally and professionally, why so many families hesitate in emergencies, and how familiarity, not fear, is what truly helps in...

Send us Fan Mail Many of our nervous systems become very skilled at scanning for danger. This is not a flaw. It is a protective response that develops when life has required us to stay alert. But when the nervous system spends most of its time looking for what might go wrong, it can begin to overlook the signals of safety that are also present. This session introduces the concept of glimmers. Thes...

Send us Fan Mail This is the first guest episode in a season of the Don't Feed the Fear podcast dedicated to something many of us are feeling deeply right now: the excitement and overwhelm that comes with how quickly the food allergy landscape is changing. With more options, devices, information, and opinions bombarding us, many feel unsure of what to trust, what actually matters, and how to...

Send us Fan Mail Living with food allergies or celiac disease often requires careful decision making. Reading labels, asking questions, and evaluating risk are important parts of staying safe. Over time, though, the nervous system can become so used to scanning for danger that it becomes difficult to tell the difference between healthy caution and anxiety driven fear. This guided meditation helps...

Send us Fan Mail Of course you feel anxious sometimes managing food allergies and celiac. Many patients and families believe that a little anxiety keeps us safe, that fear keeps us vigilant, and that without it we might become careless. But is that actually true? In this episode, Dr. Whitehouse explores the difference between stress, overwhelm, anxiety, and trauma, and why those distinctions matte...

Send us Fan Mail Lisa Cohen created the Kyah Rayne Foundation in honor of her daughter Kyah, who died following to an allergic reaction. As we approach Kyah’s birthday on March 17, Lisa shares Kyah’s story and the mission behind the foundation, with a focus on food allergy education, epinephrine access, and the importance of knowing how to respond in an emergency. Together, we discuss common misco...

Send us Fan Mail Food allergy care does not exist in a vacuum, and neither do the families managing it. In this episode, pediatric psychologist Dr. Linda Jones Herbert and pediatric allergist Dr. Hemant Sharma from Children’s National Hospital join the conversation to explore how disparities in food allergy diagnosis, treatment access, and outcomes are shaped by psychosocial and systemic factors....

Send us Fan Mail Living with food allergies often creates distance between us and friends, family, schools, and communities that don’t fully understand what our safety requires. This episode compassionately addresses the growing sense of isolation many food allergy families experience and why advice like “just go no contact” or “let them” often misses the reality of chronic illness. Isolation can...