Allergy-Informed Behavioral Healthcare Providers:
Become a Food Allergy Counselor (FAC) Member
​...and enjoy The FAC Membership benefits, such as The Food Allergy Behavioral Health Network

​To learn more about working in the allergy counseling niche and express interest in upcoming webinars/workshops to learn more about it or deepen your skills, check out the following section:
Food Allergy & Allergic Disease Counseling Information for Therapy Providers

[Direct URL for this page: www.FoodAllergyBehavioralHealth.org]

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What Is The Food Allergy Counselor Membership All About? 

As the first and only allergy behavioral health-focused resource, The FAC is well-respected by those living with allergies, as well as providers and organizations supporting the allergy community. Whereas other directories are exclusively listing services, The FAC is both a directory *and* a professional organization offering opportunities to network and learn!

Whether you're simply interested in being a FAC Directory-listed provider, or you want to take full advantage of all of The FAC Membership benefits, you'll find value. Here's what current FAC Members report: 

• Client Inquiries: 67% of FAC Directory-listed providers polled reported receiving between 1-20 client inquiries per year, and approximately 25% reported receiving more than 5 client inquiries per year
• Practice Website Traffic: Providers have reported receiving increased website traffic due to being listed 
• Connectivity with Peers: Members report that it's helpful being connected with peers focusing on allergies
• Exploring Our Work: Peer consultation groups are providing opportunities to discuss & expand skills
• Study Data Updates: Members state that it's helpful to receive allergy psychosocial research updates via FABHN 

​Why Become a FAC Member?

• Membership benefits offer opportunities to connect, network, learn, grow, and promote yourself/your practice
• Allergic individuals will more easily find you/your practice as the FAC Directory is well-known & respected
• Allergy practices will be able to easily connect and refer patients needing additional support​
• The latest allergy psychosocial studies, research, and data are often posted in FABHN to keep providers updated
• Formally be part of this growing niche, which continues to need more providers to meet the demand!​​

The FAC Membership Benefits Include: 

• FAC Directory-Listed Provider website badge so you're more easily identified as an allergy-informed provider
• Ability to join The Food Allergy Behavioral Health Network (FABHN) & connect with others in this niche
• Ability to join allergy-focused peer consultation groups to discuss working with allergic clients
• Opportunities to guest blog on The Food Allergy Counselor Blog, with social media promotions for articles 
• Discounts on allergy therapeutic worksheets and future workshops/webinars/trainings
• And more perks are in the works as The FAC continues to grow!

Is there a cost to be a FAC Member?  
As of August 2022, an annual voluntary, values-based dues plan has been implemented for The Food Allergy Counselor Membership. Voluntary, values-based dues means that you can choose whether and how much to pay for being a FAC Member and utilizing the member benefits, such as being listed on The FAC Directory, based on how you value it.

To help you decide the dues amount you'd like to pay if you chose to, you're encouraged to consider the following:

• How useful The FAC & FAC Directory has been not only for you, but the allergy community as a whole
• How valuable this growing allergy counseling niche/network is for you and the allergy community
• The time, cost and effort involved to run a directory and professional membership program

Whereas Psychology Today charges up to $30/month ($360/year) simply to be a listed provider, The FAC offers more than just listing your practice - such as the benefits listed above and the opportunity to be part of this growing community of allergy-informed therapy providers - with a lower suggested dues amount! (And as The FAC continues to grow, there are more member perks in the works.)

Below is the suggested amounts for the annual voluntary, values-based FAC Membership dues:

• Professional Membership = $120/year (or $10/month)
• Graduate Student Membership = $30/year

*[Graduate students: Graduate students interested in working within the allergy counseling niche aren't eligible for full membership until they graduate and receive their provisional license, but are eligible for the Graduate Student Membership. The suggested amount for the voluntary, values-based dues for a Graduate Student Membership is $30/year. The membership benefits for this membership category includes everything except being listed on The FAC Directory and the use of the FAC Directory-Listed Provider badge]

Still not sure if you'd like to become a FAC Member? Check out the following sections below, and then complete the form to express interest and get more information. And if you're interested in connecting with a current FAC Member to get firsthand insights, we'd be happy to connect you with one!

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Member Benefit Spotlight: The Food Allergy Counselor (FAC) Directory Listing:

The original directory of allergy-informed clinical behavioral healthcare providers, The Food Allergy Counselor Directory (FAC Directory) is an internationally-known allergy resource. It's a well-respected resource because of the solution it provides to the common struggle of finding therapists who understand allergic diseases. Therapy providers on this directory understand food allergies and related allergic conditions, and often work with those managing Celiac Disease and related life-impacting digestive diseases. 

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​The FAC Directory continues to grow, adding new providers all the time. So if you're an allergy-informed therapy provider, let's connect - reach out through the interest form at the bottom of this page! And if you know of allergy-informed therapy providers, please share this page with them, too!

​Main Criteria to Be Approved as a Food Allergy Counselor Directory-Listed Provider: 

• You must be a licensed behavioral healthcare clinician in one of these fields: Clinical Counseling, Clinical Marriage & Family Therapy, Clinical Social Work, Clinical Psychology/Health Psychology, or Clinical Psychiatry - or currently pursing your full clinical license under supervision
• You're allergy-informed and committed to improving the lives of anyone impacted by IgE-mediated food allergies and related allergic conditions; while you may also work with non-IgE mediated conditions, such as Celiac Disease, your knowledge base must include a deep understanding of food allergies and other IgE-mediated conditions
• You're already seeing allergic patients, or are open to offering therapeutic services to the allergy community
• You're able to provide in-person and/or telehealth services to clients (i.e. work in a practice setting)
• You do not have to be working with only allergic patients; most providers list allergy work as one of their focuses
• Preferably have food allergy and/or allergic disease mentioned as a clinical focus on your website/PT profile​​​

What FAC Directory-Listed Providers Are Saying:

• “I had been trying to build my specialty practice in working with individuals and families living with food allergies for several years. It wasn’t until Tamara Hubbard built the FAC Directory and FAC website that my food allergy counseling practice took off. I now get referrals frequently enough that I often have to look to the Directory to refer new client inquiries to other food allergy specialists. It is so wonderful that individuals and families living with food allergies have a well-vetted resource to help them access therapists who are knowledgeable about food allergy and can effectively treat the unique social-emotional challenges that often occur with food allergy.” ​ ​
• "Thank you for creating the Food Allergy Behavioral Health Networking Group & including me in your (Food Allergy Counselor Directory) listings! I got my first referral today right here in (my area)!"
• "A local allergist reached out to me about my practice. Our offices are 1.1 miles from each other. How did he hear about me? FoodAllergyCounselor.com!"

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Member Benefit Spotlight: Join The Food Allergy Behavioral Health Network:
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The Food Allergy Behavioral Health Network (FABHN) is an online professional networking and discussion group - the first of its kind in this niche! Its purpose is to connect all clinical behavioral healthcare fields focused on the allergic disease therapy niche. 

To Join FABHN: FABHN is a membership benefit for FAC Members. Both professional members and graduate students in clinical behavioral healthcare programs who plan to focus their career (in part) on working with those managing allergic conditions get access to this membership benefit.

Benefits of Being Part of the Food Allergy Behavioral Health Network (FABHN):

• Collaborative space to interact and connect with other allergy-informed peers
• Take part in discussions relevant to food allergy and allergic disease topics 
• Learn about the latest research, especially focused on psychosocial well-being
• Ability to learn from others' approaches, theoretical modalities, and strategies 
• Opportunity to receive or provide mentorship to one another
• Opportunity to join one of the monthly allergy-focused peer consultation group​

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​Interested In Joining Or Want To Learn More?

​If you're in one of the aforementioned clinical behavioral healthcare fields, are interested in being a FAC Member, being listed on the Food Allergy Counselor Directory, and being part of this growing allergy counseling niche, please complete this form below to receive a FAC Membership application. NOTE: Applications submitted by those not in a clinical counseling, psychology, social work, family therapy or psychiatry fields will not be approved. 

Licensed clinical professional counselor, Tamara Hubbard, LCPC founded The Food Allergy Counselor, Inc. which includes the  Food Allergy Counselor Directory and Food Allergy Behavioral Health Network (FABHN).