What & Who Fuels The Food Allergy Counselor, Inc.
The FAC's Mission Statement:
Psychosocial resources for the allergy community and the providers supporting them!
The FAC's goal has always been to be a one-of-a-kind resource, helping the food allergy and allergic disease community to effectively navigate psychosocial impacts, and to positively impact the quality of life and mindsets of those managing these diagnoses. To meet this mission, The FAC offers reputable and practice psychosocial guidance, tools, resources, and education for the allergy community and the providers working with them.
The FAC's goal has always been to be a one-of-a-kind resource, helping the food allergy and allergic disease community to effectively navigate psychosocial impacts, and to positively impact the quality of life and mindsets of those managing these diagnoses. To meet this mission, The FAC offers reputable and practice psychosocial guidance, tools, resources, and education for the allergy community and the providers working with them.
The FAC's Vision Statement:
The FAC aims to support the allergy community's psychosocial needs by continuing to identify, bridge, and fill psychosocial support gaps. This includes, but is not limited to: helping to further establish and expand the food allergy and allergic disease counseling niche, working with allergists and allergy practices to include psychosocial patient support, and continuing to offer practical content and tools to help the allergy community navigate the overwhelm of allergy life.
Meet The FAC Team
The FAC Founder & CEO |
Personal Statement:
"I saw the demand for psychosocial content and resources within the allergy community, so I developed The FAC to fill this unmet need. Simply put, rather than "minding the gap", I try and fill the gap!" |
Tamara is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, with an undergraduate degree in Education, a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy, and over 18 years experience in a variety of clinical settings.
She is a member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), the American Counseling Association (ACA), and is listed as an allergy counseling expert on PsychWire. She is also an Allied Health Professional member of both the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) and the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI). Additionally, Tamara is a founding Community Advisory Board Member for the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research (CFAAR), part of the Institute for Public Health/Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. Learn more here. |
The FAC Advisors
(more advisors will be listed soon)
Dr. Paige Freeman is a psychologist who has navigated her child's food allergy for the last 15 years. She provides telehealth services in 30 states to support adults, children (10+) and parents navigating food allergies. Dr. Freeman is passionate about educating food allergic individuals (and their families and friends) about the very real psychosocial stressors of managing food allergies. She enjoys writing articles and participating in interviews and podcasts as a way to elevate the discussion of the effect of food allergies on mental health. Dr. Freeman is a frequent contributor to FARE, and is one of only a few alpha-gal informed mental health providers in the United States. Learn more about Dr. Freeman and connect with her here.
Personal Statement:
"As I was in the early stages of navigating my child’s food allergy as a mom and psychologist, I recognized a glaring lack of psychosocial support for those navigating this journey. This gap became even more apparent as my family navigated school, social events, food challenges and OIT. The Food Allergy Counselor offers the most comprehensive tools that I know of to help guide families and individuals in the management of food allergies from a psychosocial perspective. It is such an honor to be an advisor and work with Tamara to further this patient education and food allergy-informed professional collaboration." 
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Olga Kagan, PhD, RN is a registered nurse, researcher, and educator with experiences across different healthcare settings inside and outside of the United States. Dr. Kagan have been serving on boards, committees and taskforces within New York state, national and international organizations, including the NYAM, SONSIEL, AAAAI and HIMSS. Dr. Kagan has been invited to contribute to textbooks, articles, and presentations in areas of healthcare informatics and innovation, health policy, and anaphylaxis education, and to serve as a mentor and judge at healthcare innovation events. Dr. Kagan was recognized for her work with elected officials on legislative initiatives in improving the health and welfare of vulnerable individuals and received several awards for her contributions to research and leadership. Learn more about Dr. Kagan and connect with her here.
Personal Statement:
"I look forward to serving in the advisor capacity to The Food Allergy Counselor organization as it continues to expand, carry forward its mission and make a profound impact on patients and their families." 
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The Food Allergy Counselor Story
How The FAC Began:
In 2018, licensed therapist Tamara Hubbard, LCPC asked herself, "Who is focusing on the mental health and psychosocial needs of those managing allergies?" That curiosity quickly led her to recognize that even though the allergy community craved more psychosocial and quality of life-focused content to help them navigate the ups and downs of allergy life (especially food allergy), there was a resource gap. That's when Tamara decided to launch The Food Allergy Counselor (The FAC) in order to fill that unmet need!
Initially, The FAC began as a blog, offering guidance and tips for navigating social and emotional aspects of life with allergies. However, soon after its launch, many began reaching out to inquire about therapy services with allergy-informed therapists. Due to behavioral health licensure guidelines, therapy providers are only able to provide therapy services to those in the state(s) they're licensed in. Therefore, this led to the development of The Food Allergy Counselor Directory, the original state-by-state listing of food allergy-knowledgeable licensed clinical behavioral health clinicians in the US, which has since expanded to include other countries.
How The FAC Expanded:
Once Tamara established The Food Allergy Counselor Directory to help the allergy community, she developed The Food Allergy Behavioral Health Network (FABHN) to help strengthen the growing food allergy counseling niche and help providers within it connect. FABNH is a networking group for allergy-informed therapy providers, many of whom are listed on The Food Allergy Counselor Directory. Benefits of this group include the ability to: connect with other allergy-informed therapists, learn about the latest allergy psychosocial data and research, and take part in one of the multiple monthly allergy-focused peer consultation groups.
Next came the Exploring Food Allergy Families Podcast. Hosted by Tamara, it's a podcast with real talk, relatable conversations, and practical tips focused on navigating the impacts that food allergies and allergic conditions have on families, relationships, mental health, and emotional well-being. Mindset and resilience are key pillars of Exploring Food Allergy Families, and guests include allergists, allergy-informed therapists, and those managing allergies. The most recent guest was Jo Frost, also known as Supernanny, who manages food allergies of her own. Exploring Food Allergy Families can be found on any podcast app, including Apple Podcasts.
Growth continued with additional FAC resources, including therapeutic allergy worksheets to help address allergy anxiety, stress, fear, and mindset, and food allergy psychosocial intake forms for allergy and therapy practices. The Psychosocial Resource section includes links to allergy behavioral health, psychosocial, and quality of life resources and research.
The Food Allergy Counselor, Inc. now also offers consulting, webinars, workshops, and training services. To learn more about consultation services, webinars, workshops, training sessions and having Tamara speak/present, please check out the Consulting & Webinars section. And you can learn more about The Food Allergy Counselor, Inc. founder and CEO, Tamara Hubbard, LCPC here.
What's Next for The FAC?
The Food Allergy Counselor, Inc. is currently in another growth stage, with exciting strategic visions to expand! Stay tuned for updates as they become available, both on the website and via emails (subscribe here so you don't miss any news).
The Food Allergy Counselor, Inc. is currently in another growth stage, with exciting strategic visions to expand! Stay tuned for updates as they become available, both on the website and via emails (subscribe here so you don't miss any news).
Check Out What's Popular on the FAC Blog
Navigating Allergy TragediesHelpful tips and reminders for dealing with tragic allergy-related stories shared within the community.
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The 6 Stages of Allergy ParentingThis parent-focused framework guides parents through their allergic child's stages of development.
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Post-Anaphylaxis TipsThis post-anaphylaxis tool is a compass to guide you back to balance after an allergic reaction.
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