I'm Tamara Hubbard, MA, LCPC - a licensed therapist, national speaker, author of May Contain Anxiety: Managing the Overwhelm of Parenting Children with Food Allergies (Johns Hopkins University Press), and founder of both FoodAllergyCounselor.com and the Academy of Food Allergy Counseling and its therapist directory. My monthly emails share practical tips on managing food allergy anxiety, caregiver stress, and the emotional impact of managing food allergies, plus allergy community news and my book updates. I look forward to connecting!
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5 Questions to Help You Reflect
Published about 2 months ago • 6 min read
Hi Reader,
I hope my final email of 2025 finds you and yours looking forward to (or already enjoying) the holiday season.
Yes, navigating the holiday season with food allergies can evoke many emotions, including grief, sadness, and anxiety. Yet even when those emotions are present, we can still connect with joy.
The joy of seeing someone smile when you give them a gift.
The joy of observing excitement on children's faces.
The joy of slowing down and reconnecting with friends and loved ones.
My hope is that we can all connect with these moments of joy even amidst the stress.
On that note, here's to a happy, healthy and safe holiday season and start of 2026!
What I'm sharing in this week's email:
5 questions to help guide your 2025 allergy-related reflections and help you set your 2026 allergy-related goals and intentions
How to participate in an allergy-focused survey about college experiences
Recent allergy-focused podcast chats I've had
What's making me laugh lately - and hopefully makes you laugh, too!
Reflecting & Setting Allergy-Related Intentions for 2026:
As a licensed therapist, I not only help people process past experiences, but also help them prepare for the future and living the way they want to.
One way I help them do this is by engaging in reflection.
When we reflect on things, such as the past year, it helps deepen our self-awareness because we're intentionally looking back at experiences that allows us to gain insights into our thoughts, actions, patterns, successes, and challenges. These insights then help us create an intentional path forward and set goals that help us move in that direction.
While reflection isabout looking back and developing a deeper understanding of yourself that helps guide you forward, here's what it's not about: self-judgement.
Therefore, if you find yourself being self-critical as you engage in reflection (e.g. "Why can't I just..." or "I should have..."), remind yourself that this process is meant to help you learn more about yourself and grow. Notice those self-judgmental thoughts and explore what clues they can give you about how you want to navigate allergy-related scenarios in 2026.
Below are 5 questions to help you begin to reflect on your allergy-related experiences in 2025 so you can set your allergy-focused intentions for 2026:
What was your biggest food allergy-related "win" this year—big or small?
Think about moments when you successfully advocated for yourself or your child, tried a new safe restaurant, handled an allergic reaction with confidence, or helped someone else understand your needs. Celebrating these wins, no matter how small they seem, helps you recognize your growth and resilience.
When did you feel most anxious or overwhelmed about managing your food allergies, and what did that experience teach you?
Reflecting on challenging moments—such as navigating an allergic reaction or a difficult social situation—can reveal patterns in your food allergy-related anxiety triggers and help you notice what information, support systems, or strategies you might need to strengthen going forward.
How well did you balance caution with living fully this year?
Consider whether you felt you, your child, and your family were able to participate in the experiences that mattered to you, or if fear overestimated risk and/or held you back more than medically necessary. Conversely, were there times you took risks that didn't feel right? This reflection can help you find your "just right" balance between vigilance and risk-taking - a balance that allows for a good quality of life and doing what matters while still staying safe.
Who made managing food allergies easier this year, and have you thanked them?
Whether it's a friend who always checks ingredients, a family member who keeps your home safe when visiting, a restaurant staff member who went above and beyond, or a healthcare provider who listened—acknowledging your support network reminds you that you're not alone in this journey.
If you could give yourself one piece of advice for navigating food allergies in 2026, what would it be?
Sometimes the wisdom we need most comes from our own lived experiences. This question invites you to tap into what you've learned navigating through the successes and challenges from this year—maybe it's the importance of always carrying two epinephrine devices, speaking up sooner when something doesn't feel right, being gentler with yourself when things don't go as planned, or prioritizing your mental health. Then use this advice to help you set your allergy-focused intentions for the year ahead.
Helping Allergy-Focused Research:
Would you like to help shape allergy-focused research and outcomes?
If you're a college student who is 18 years or older, here's an opportunity!
Understanding the College Experience for Students with Food Allergy: Evaluating Trends in Behaviors, Attitudes and Self-Efficacy Among College Students with Food Allergy
Researchers from the Division of Allergy at the University of Rochester developed a survey to understand the experience of students with IgE-mediated food allergies and what can affect allergy management while living away from home at college. The survey should take 10 minutes to complete.
If you or the college student in your life would like to learn more and participate, please click the link below.
I'm always grateful to be invited as a guest on podcasts to discuss topics related to food allergies, parenthood, mindset, and managing anxiety.
Check out the latest chats I was invited to be part of! All of these conversations can be found on your favorite podcast apps, and the AAFAnoon Chat episode is also on YouTube.
*A fun note: these last 2 podcast chats were with hosts that live in Australia!
Book News:
Virtual book talk events in 2026...
I'm excited to share that thanks to interest within the allergy community, starting in 2026, I will be available to attend virtual book talk events hosted by support groups, allergy practices, and treatment centers!
Think of these like book club-style events, where participants read the book ahead of time and come ready to discuss book content with myself and other attendees.
I'll also be adding a free, downloadable May Contain Anxiety discussion guide to The Food Allergy Counselor shopin the new year, which can be used by anyone interested in hosting their own book club-style event without my attendance.
If your support group or practice is interested in hosting a virtual book talk event in 2026, please reply to this email or click the button below to let me know, as slots are already filling up!
I'll be reaching out to interested groups and practices early in the new year to coordinate dates and details.
If you know me or have received my emails for a while, you know I love to use laughter as a coping strategy. And especially with the chaos in the world today, I find myself looking for things that make me smile and laugh now more than ever, which I love sharing with you.
I know I've shared Amy Poehler's podcast with you before, but this time I'm sharing a specific episode. Amy's guest on last week's Good Hang episode was Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and I found myself smiling and laughing throughout the whole chat.
Some of the topics these two were talking about were very relatable (like the ridiculous number of photos we keep on our phones), and they were cracking each other up so much that I couldn't help cracking up right along with them! Plus, I learned something new about the original casting for Seinfeld.
If you check this episode out, I hope you find joy in it, too! (You can watch it on YouTube and listen to it on your favorite podcast app).
As always, take good care of yourself - and each other. Sending lots of love and joy during this holiday season!
The FAC is here to help you develop a balanced approach to life with food allergies! If you know others who would benefit from receiving The FAC's emails, please don't keep them a secret!Forward this email orthis link to subscribe. And don't forget about ALL of the useful content on The FAC's website, including articles, worksheets, and podcast episodes.
DISCLAIMER: The information provided here is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the medical or mental healthcare advice of your own healthcare provider. By reading this email, the reader acknowledges that there is no therapist-patient relationship between them and the author(s). If you think you are observing a medical or mental health emergency, call 911 immediately.
The Food Allergy Counselor
Tamara Hubbard, MA, LCPC
I'm Tamara Hubbard, MA, LCPC - a licensed therapist, national speaker, author of May Contain Anxiety: Managing the Overwhelm of Parenting Children with Food Allergies (Johns Hopkins University Press), and founder of both FoodAllergyCounselor.com and the Academy of Food Allergy Counseling and its therapist directory. My monthly emails share practical tips on managing food allergy anxiety, caregiver stress, and the emotional impact of managing food allergies, plus allergy community news and my book updates. I look forward to connecting!
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