October 7, 2025 • 50 mins
In this episode of Don’t Feed the Fear, Emery Brown, school psychologist and FAACT’s Behavioral Health Director, joins me to talk about how parents and schools can better support children with food allergies. We explore practical strategies that help children and their parents feel safe, understood, and able to thrive. This episode is packed with helpful tips from Emery's real-life personal and professional experiences, practical skills you can use right away, as well as ideas on how to use the many resources she has created for FAACT's Behavioral Health Resource Center.
Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Connection Team | FAACT
Behavioral Health Resource Center | FAACT
Camp TAG | FAACT
Special thanks to Kyle Dine for permission to use his song The Doghouse for the podcast theme!
www.kyledine.com
Find Dr. Whitehouse:
-thefoodallergypsychologist.com
-Instagram: @thefoodallergypsychologist
-Facebook: Dr. Amanda Whitehouse, Food Allergy Anxiety Psychologist
-welcome@dramandawhitehouse.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker (00:01):
Welcome to the Don't Feed the Fear podcast, where we
dive into the complex world offood allergy anxiety.
I'm your host, Dr.
Amanda Whitehouse, food allergyanxiety psychologist and food
allergy mom.
Whether you're dealing withallergies yourself or supporting
someone who is, join us for anempathetic and informative
journey toward food allergy calmand confidence..
(00:22):
Welcome back to Don't Feed TheFear.
This episode is coming out justafter I returned from the Food
Allergy Anaphylaxis ConnectionTeam or FAACT's Allergy Summit,
where I got to spend some moretime with Emery Brown, a school
psychologist.
Emery is such a great resource.
She knows about FAACT way backto when she started with them as
a volunteer teen counselorthrough their summer programs
(00:43):
for Children, and now as theirdirector of behavioral health.
She brings to this position herown stories and experience of
living as a young person and anadult with food allergies, and
she has been working on creatingan amazing resource center with
so many things that I want youto check out and utilize.
Emery and I talk about theexperiences of children and
families as they navigateanxiety.
(01:05):
School challenges, the emotionalside of living with food
allergies, her interest in playtherapy, I'm so excited to share
our conversation with you today.
I know you'll enjoy hearing fromher just as much as I do.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (01:16):
Emery, it's so good to see you again.
Thanks for coming here onto thepodcast to talk about all
things, food allergies, schoolpsychology, mental health, and
behavioral health.
I'm so excited to
Emery Brown, M.A., (01:25):
Absolutely.
I'm glad to be here.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (01:26):
Let's start, by sharing your history
and your personal experiencethat brought you into the food
allergy world and community.
Emery Brown, M.A., (01:33):
Absolutely.
So I was diagnosed with foodallergies when I was eight
months old because my auntdropped ice cream on me when she
was having some ice cream, and Ibroke out in hives.
Thankfully, my parents alreadyknew what food allergies were
because of my sister who has apeanut, tree nut and soy
allergy.
So they, as soon as they saw thehives, they knew that it was
probably food allergy and got mea.
(01:55):
Appointment with an allergistwhere I was diagnosed with a
anaphylactic dairy allergy.
Luckily, obviously it was foundout when it was dropped on my
skin rather than ingested.
I got an EpiPen and from there Iwas also diagnosed with an egg
allergy that I outgrew when Iwas six years old.
But then as time went on, I didalso developed a peanut allergy,
(02:15):
fish allergy, shellfish allergyand tree nut allergy.
But I was able to outgrowshellfish as a young adult, and
my last allergist appointmentactually showed that I wasn't
coming up allergic to finfisheither.
So I actually have an upcomingfood challenge for that, which
is really exciting.
But when I was a young adult aswell.
While some of those allergieswere going away, I also was
(02:36):
diagnosed with my peanut allergyand treatment allergies in my
twenties.
So I've had lifelong allergies.
I've never been without them,but they've changed over time.
But basically been in the foodallergy world since I was a
child.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (02:49):
that's so much change., A lot of people
have food allergies and thenmaybe outgrow some of them, but
Has it been hard to adjustthroughout your life in terms
of, I'm not allergic to thisanymore, now I'm allergic to
this and changing your routines.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S. (03:01):
That's an interesting question and I
would definitely say yes.
I'd say it's a little bit easierfor me because my sister has
food allergies.
All my cousins do, and while mysister's allergies haven't
fluctuated, they were differentthan mine growing up.
So we were used to kind ofcatering to different things.
When I became allergic topeanuts at 21, it was definitely
(03:21):
very upsetting because I.
Loved peanut butter.
That's all I could say, youknow, because I have no you
know, state of reference for mydairy allergy.
I've always been allergic andI'm still allergic, but, you
know, I had the taste, but allmy cousins are allergic and so
is my sister.
So it wasn't that big of a deal.
And I am married and my husbandgave up all my food allergies
(03:43):
and, you know, he didn't find ita shift at all.
So it's kind of, I think whenyou're in the world, I always
say.
You find other things that youreally like, and so at one time
it felt like a big deal, butthen as I found more and more
things that I like as I got apassion for cooking, as I got a
passion for finding restaurantsthat cater to multiple food
(04:04):
allergies and special meals andthis and that, it became a lot
smaller of a deal.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (04:12):
So there's just, there's an
adjustment period as you findalternatives and maybe mourn a
little bit some of the favoritefoods when you lose
Emery Brown, M.A., (04:18):
Definitely.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (04:19):
That's tough..
I wanna get into your work atFAACT, but you just mentioned a
couple things that I know peoplereally love to hear about.
And one of them is likerelationships and, and marriage
with food allergies.
And I, you know, I think peoplefeel discouraged about finding a
partner who will accommodatethem, but I meet so many young
people who are like, yeah, mypartner was like, no problem.
So do you wanna talk about whatthat was like for you as you
were growing up and getting intodating life?
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (04:41):
This is definitely one of my favorite
topics to address I startedvolunteering with FAACT and
attending conferences related tofood allergies ever since I was
a kid.
So now I'm on the other side ofthat as a professional and an
adult and addressing kids andteens that.
I used to sit in their seat andlisten to other people that were
in my seat talking about it.
(05:02):
And I can remember being 12 andgoing to my first food allergy
conference against my will.
My parents made me go and Iremember listening to different
things about dating and schooland field trips and eating out,
and I didn't care about it atall.
You know, it put it in my backpocket.
Save it for another day.
But I kept going back to theconferences.
(05:22):
You make relationships withpeople and then there comes a
point in your life where thethings that you were learning
become a applicable.
And so I am glad that my parentsmade me go to those different
things even before I was readyfor it because I learned a lot
of things that I definitely wasable to apply later.
A lot of food allergy parentssay if someone doesn't respect
your food allergies, thenthey're not gonna respect you.
(05:44):
And I think that that is areally real statement.
And previously to finding myhusband, I dated people that
were great about my foodallergies, and I dated people
that didn't care and.
When I started dating myhusband, he actually would drink
half a gallon of milk a day.
This man loved milk, and when wegot engaged and obviously
married, you know, he gave itup.
(06:05):
Now he drinks about half gallonof oat milk, you know, and he
says he can't even remember whatmilk tastes like anymore,
probably for the best.
But I think it's.
Continually an importantconversation to talk about
because I do think a lot ofpeople think that they have to
settle or there's no way thatthat could happen to them.
But I did mention my sister hasfood allergies as well, and her
(06:27):
husband gave up her allergens aswell.
So this is something that I'veseen happen for other people as
well, and I like to cautionparents too.
That even if your kid is annoyedby having these conversations,
they're important conversationsto have.
Because while I don't like totalk about the history before my
husband, I actually have had areaction kissing someone that
(06:49):
had a milkshake before, and Iwell knew that they had one, but
I just didn't think that itwould happen.
I knew.
You're not supposed to do that.
Right.
But that current partner didn'treally care and I wasn't gonna
make it a big deal because Ireally wanted to date that
person.
And I did.
I mean, it was a, it was not ananaphylactic reaction luckily,
but it was still scary and stillkind of, a wake up call for me
(07:11):
that this does happen and maybethis person doesn't care about
me the way that they should.
And definitely my husband does.
And if anything, he, sometimes,of course I take my food
allergies really seriously, butsometimes I feel like he even
takes them more seriously.
And he's my biggest advocate.
He never leaves the housewithout EpiPens in his pocket as
well.
He's a great supporter.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (07:32):
Well, that's awesome.
You make a good point, but it'sone of those things.
Sometimes teens just have toexperience not just teens,
everyone, humans have toexperience things for themselves
in order to learn.
So we obviously don't wanna havethem have a huge dangerous
reaction.
But like you said, having thatknowledge beforehand when it
wasn't necessarily time for ityet, but you had already been
exposed to Ideas is a big helpin terms of being prepared.
(07:55):
Then when the moment comes, youstill didn't obviously make the
ideal decision, but you had someknowledge going into it and some
preparation that.
You know, I think probably wasimportant in how you responded
when you started to have areaction.
Emery Brown, M.A., (08:07):
Absolutely.
And I'm sure that you'refamiliar with the statistics
about those risk taking ages andthat like late teens into the
early twenties is the biggesttime we see risk taking when it
comes to food allergy and lotsof other things of course, as
well.
But I think.
There's a kind of thing that weall say that I definitely agree
with that food allergy kids tendto be more respectful.
(08:28):
They are more responsible.
They're reading ingredientlabels, you know, they mature
faster because they have this,you know.
Health condition that they haveto manage and they have to learn
to do that well andindependently, but at the same
time, they're still a kid andthey're still in those years.
And I think a lot of parentsmight say, like, not my child,
(08:48):
they wouldn't do that.
I know my parents would've, youknow, I was a high achieving
high school student.
I, you know, went to college ona scholarship and I took risks
that I'm not proud of.
And the reason that I share thatis because I think you don't
ever wanna think that your childis.
Different in the way thatthey're not gonna go through
that or fall to peer pressure orwanting to fit in.
(09:09):
That's why we do have theconversations in advance, and
that's why we have thoseconversations repeatedly with
the hope that when our child isfaced with a more problematic
situation, whether it's kissingsomeone that ate an allergen or
they're at a party and theydon't know what's in a beverage,
or they're at a restaurant thatmaybe they wouldn't have gone to
otherwise because they don'thave allergen protocols, they'll
be prepared to make the rightdecision and the smart decision
(09:31):
and the decision that ultimatelykeeps them safe.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (09:34):
Yeah.
I'm so glad you're sharing that.
Thank you.
Because I think it makes a good.
Think of things so black andwhite and it's not just like,
oh, they're a really good kid.
I know they wouldn't do that.
It is a phase of development,but it's actually like an
important stage for kids to gothrough and develop.
So if we can put somescaffolding and structure around
it to help them do it moresafely, yes.
But they do still need to takerisks and step out on their own
and learn to make their owndecisions.
(09:55):
It's not that we just want themto do everything we say forever
and not go through that teenagephase.
Emery Brown, M.A., E (10:01):
Incredibly well said.
And I actually think thatthat's, that's something that
parents can really work to.
What's an appropriate risk?
Risk That doesn't come with anysort of consequences in the
sense of they'll have anallergic reaction, but what's an
appropriate risk that you cantalk through with your child to
get them to that next steps?
State of development.
So can it be that you arecomfortable with them going out
(10:23):
with their friends to theirfavorite safe restaurant and you
don't need to be there becauseyou know that they're gonna
order the same thing that theyalways ordered.
They're gonna ask the questionsthat you have watched them ask
and train them to ask, andyou're ready for them to do that
on their own.
Could it be that you feel likethey can go to a new restaurant
and order a safe item that.
It doesn't contain theirallergens.
(10:43):
Even as an adult with foodallergies I get nervous at new
restaurants sometimes, you know?
But sometimes I'll go to forthat social situation with
friends.
But do you feel like that's acontained risk that you can
allow your child to take becauseone day then you're not gonna be
there?
So.
Containing a risk and kind ofhaving it be a, you know, a safe
test of what can they handle andcan they actually implement the
(11:08):
skills that you've helped themlearn and you've taught them.
That's a good thing that I wouldencourage parents to do.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (11:14):
Yeah, definitely.
Thank you for explaining that soclearly because it's so
important and it's so hard forus to do as parents too, so we
need the reminders all the time.
One of the other things I wantedto touch on, a lot of the
clients that I work with again,back to black or white thinking.
Either think that their partnerswon't accommodate, and that
that's gonna be so hard.
I don't wanna disclose it.
Or this idea that my partnermust avoid and never eat all my
(11:38):
allergens.
And I just wanna emphasize, Ithink for people listening, it
doesn't always mean they don'tsupport you if they refuse to
never eat your allergens again,right?
Like you have to individuallyhash that out with someone that
you're in a relationship, justlike any topic between the two
of you.
Emery Brown, M.A., (11:52):
Absolutely, and obviously the best
conclusion is one that you bothfeel comfortable with.
I'm actually obviously veryhappy that my husband gave up my
food allergens, but if he wasmore comfortable as.
You know, eating them when I'maway for trips or you know, if
we know that he, you know, if hewanted to eat something for
breakfast and he was gonna brushhis teeth and you know, that.
(12:15):
Six hour timeframe was gonna belong gone with double brushings
until we were back together.
I would be comfortable withthat.
It was my husband that wasn't,and he said something very
powerful to me that, you know,he just wanted to, to make sure
that there was nothing I everhad to second guess.
And I think when you dosometimes have anxiety related
to your food allergies, nothaving to second guess something
(12:37):
is, you know, a huge relief.
But I absolutely agree with you.
It's whatever you as a couple.
Both feel comfortable withwithout you sacrificing what
ultimately makes you comfortablein this situation.
Not that you're minimizing yourpartner, but you are the one
that ultimately has to managethe food allergies and feel
comfortable.
So for me, I am excited that nowI have my own house where there
(12:59):
hasn't been a single allergenthat's ever, you know, touched
it.
But I grew up in a house wheremy parents safely.
Kept my allergens and they keptit separate from the things that
I ate.
Right?
So this, I'm now an adult that'schoosing what feels right for me
with the support of my partner.
But you are absolutely right.
It's going to be different fromeveryone.
(13:20):
And just because someone'spartner does eat their
allergens, it can still comewith a huge amount of support
and respect.
It's what you're deciding for,the safety of both of you and
the comfort of both of you.
Absolutely.
Amanda Whitehouse, (13:31):
Absolutely, and, and you touched on a big
part.
Of what factors into thatconversation.
Safety obviously is the utmostimportant thing to establish in,
in whatever you work out, butanxiety about food allergies
plays such a big role and so Iwould love for you to talk
about, you know, your role atFAACT in helping people with
that and what you've learnedsince you've been in that role.
(13:52):
Both as an individual livingwith it, and now professionally
helping other people manage it.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S. (13:56):
That's a great question.
I.
I think I developed the abilityto help people with food
allergies deal with anxiety fortwofold.
Number one, I was a kid, teenand now an adult that has
anxiety surrounding my foodallergies.
But number two, I'm a schoolpsychologist, and with that
comes a lot of training inmental health and specifically
(14:17):
helping people manage theiranxiety, specifically in my
case.
Kids and teens.
But with that, I was able to usemy knowledge of that and serve
my role at FAACT as the directorof behavioral health to
encapsulate kind of both thethings, twofold, allergies and
anxiety management, but learningto manage my own anxieties.
Certainly, it's one thing whenyou.
(14:40):
Professionally know it and havethe knowledge from schooling and
education.
Another thing for actuallyhelping people and see the
results, but then I think itgoes a step further because I've
lived it and I can see thehelpful results.
So when it comes to managingfood allergy related anxiety, I
think that there's.
Two parts that are important totalk about.
(15:00):
Number one, the person that'sdealing with the anxiety.
But number two, if we're talkingabout a kid and teen, how the
parent is reacting to thatanxiety.
I share this often.
And so I can never share thesepodcasts with my parents.
My parents are wonderful, but mymom is incredibly anxious about
many things.
So it didn't help when she hadchildren that Had food allergies
(15:21):
that just made her alreadyexisting anxiety worse.
So a lot of my allergicreactions as a child, I can just
remember a lot of anxiety frommy mom, and that's really what I
remember, which made me anxiousmaybe in times I didn't even
have to be, or maybe in timeswhere I could have used an
anxiety management skill or acoping skill as we call it, to
get through that a little bitbetter.
(15:43):
We just didn't have that, and mymom didn't have that, and I
don't blame her for it at thattime.
It wasn't a conversation thatwas really talked about, which
is why I think it's great, youknow, that you're, you're doing
what you're doing with Don'tFeed the Fear, and we're doing
what we're doing over thebehavioral health resource
center at FAACT, and we'remaking these conversations.
A part of the norm.
We're making even in some cases,it a part of treatment plans,
(16:06):
which I think is great becauseyou manage your food allergies
and you manage anxiety.
Both things are managed andoftentimes they have to be
managed simultaneously.
So for myself and for what Itell others is.
Get a coping skill and it'sgonna be different for everyone.
So my coping skill that worksbest for me is taking a walk or
(16:27):
taking deep breaths.
That's not the same for myhusband.
He would wanna do a task or hemight wanna get outta the house
but not take a walk or somethinglike that when it comes for
kids.
So they might not have the sameone as you.
You might like to color draw,read a book, and your child
might.
Wanna go do some jumping jacksor they might wanna talk about
(16:49):
it, although that's not ascommon of a coping scope for
children that much.
But most importantly, for kidsthat are aged, you know.
One, I mean less than one.
You know as well to eight, theyneed something called
co-regulation, and that's whereyou do the coping skill with
them.
And I feel like that's a missinglink a lot of the times because
we'll say calm down or take abreath.
(17:10):
Deep breath.
But kids, up until age eight.
Or before age eight, just don'thave that ability.
So they need someone to do itwith you.
Watch me, I'm gonna take a deepbreath.
Will you do it with me?
Or remind me how old you are.
You're five, and you hold upyour hand and you see five
candles and you say, can youblow out these candles?
And you make it a little game.
(17:30):
And oh, they only got twocandles, and now they have all
the candles.
And you just took two reallygreat breaths.
Even as adults, sometimes weprefer co-regulation.
Over using a regulatory copingskill for ourselves.
Sometimes when I'm really upset,I mean, we don't get upset,
right?
I'll ask for a big hug from myhusband, and that's a squeeze.
That's regulation.
(17:51):
Or sometimes I'll call my sisterand I'll walk and talk because I
do wanna talk to someone.
I wanna get my body moving, butI don't wanna be just in my head
with my thoughts.
That's co-regulation.
So if we still use co-regulationas an adult.
All the more important that weneed to make sure that we're
providing that opportunity forco-regulation for our children
(18:11):
for a parent to be a reallyeffective regulator, they need
to be able to regulatethemselves.
So the best thing to do when achild's dysregulated, when a
child's upset, when a child'shaving anxiety, whether that's
related to food allergy anxietyor not, a connected adult that
is connected to their ownemotion and not just kind of
falling into the waves of theirchild's emotion, my child is
(18:32):
anxious.
I'm anxious.
There's something really badhappening.
Regulating yourself first.
So you can effectivelyco-regulate is really important,
and that means that the childthe parent, the caregiver to
that child, has these copingskills well developed as well.
And they can be different thanthe style in which you're
co-regulating with your child.
If you know what your childlikes on facts behavioral
(18:54):
Resource Center, we have a fun.
Kid friendly, A to Z copingskill checklist.
So if you don't know what helpsyour child regulate, you could
do a fun adventure as a family.
Try a different coping skillevery day, and X out the ones
that you don't like, and circlethe ones you do because
sometimes we wanna fill a hugetoolbox with a lot of skills
when really you only need one ortwo, maybe three, that work
(19:17):
consistently and that you canhelp your child master and that
you can master for yourself.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (19:23):
What you're explaining is so helpful
because parents think they, haveto make my child do this skill,
but that is not the point whenthey're this young.
It's literally they can only becalm and regulated.
If we are calm and regulated,our bodies are connected.
So what you're describing is, isdoing the thing.
It is calming yourself down andthen with you, not you must do
(19:46):
this skill.
I'm still over here freakingout, but I'm gonna make you
breathe and everything's gonnabe
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (19:50):
Yes.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (19:51):
go in hand.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S. (19:52):
That's so important to point out.
And if you are the kind ofparent, which a lot of our food
allergy parents are, I justdisclosed, so is my mom.
So it's okay.
There's no judgment here.
But if you are the parent,that's also gonna be anxious
too, coming down, using thatco-regulation for yourself.
So important, but also.
Kids are masters at sensing outof someone is disingenuous.
(20:14):
So if you say, you know, I'm notworried as you're shaking, or
you know, you're crying andyou're saying, no, no, I'm not
scared.
Don't, don't worry, like you'regonna be fine, but you know,
you're crying or something likethat, that's gonna be scary to a
kid.
And they're gonna say, oh no,no.
It's not fine, something iswrong.
You know you're crying.
So the best thing to do is torecognize your feeling,
(20:35):
recognize your child's feelingwithout reinforcing it.
So I say recognize, don'treinforce.
You're feeling really scaredabout trying a new restaurant.
I'm feeling a little bit worriedof you trying a new restaurant
too.
But we're gonna do X, Y, Z thingto make sure you're safe and I'm
gonna be there with you.
And so you can admit to beingworried about something and
recognize in your child ratherthan saying.
(20:57):
You don't have to be worriedwe're gonna do this.
No, they're probably going to beworried.
And to a certain extent thatworry is adaptive.
It's serving as a protectivefeature for them so that you
know they can prevent somethingbad happening.
It's just when it kind of goes alittle too far that we start
having problems to manage, butrecognizing that feeling, I'm
(21:17):
worried about this, you'reworried about this, or anxious
or scared, or whatever, feelingyou wanna substitute,
overwhelmed, stressed, recognizeit, and then say what you're
going to do, rather thanreinforcing that it's the
correct feeling, you're gonnarecognize that it is the feeling
and what you're gonna do aboutit.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (21:35):
Right, right.
Because any adult understands,like any of us with our partner
or our spouse, if I said, I'manxious and I was bothered by
something and they said, well,you shouldn't be, or, no, you're
not, you're fine..
It's so invalidating, but we dostuff like that to kids all the
time.
Right.
I, say this to my audience allthe time, I experience anxiety
(21:57):
too still, even though my son isdoing really well.
And even though we're inmaintenance for treatments,
anxiety just is going to comeand go, just like any other
feelings, but.
I think as food allergy parents,especially food allergy moms, we
know how bad it feels whensomeone says, well, stop being
so anxious.
You're making your kid anxious,but just telling me not to
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S (22:15):
Mm-hmm.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (22:16):
doesn't make me not anxious.
The same goes for our kids,right?
We have to teach them and showthem and guide them through how
to do it.
Like you said, we have toacknowledge it and say that it's
valid and, and work on it to saythe steps that we're doing to
take care of it, not just pushit aside or try to
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (22:32):
Yes.
And to be honest about it, youknow, I do get worried when you
go out with your friends, butI'm proud that you use the
skills that we've gone overtogether, you know?
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (22:42):
That's how they learn it, right?
By seeing us do it.
Emery Brown, M.A., (22:44):
Absolutely.
That modeling is, is really key.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (22:48):
I would love it if you would tell us
more There's so many resourcesthat you've created Please tell
the audience what else they willfind if they go and look there.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (22:55):
Yeah, so absolutely.
So if you head over to FAACT'swebsite, which is the Food
Allergy and Anaphylaxisconnection team, you'll see a
whole behavioral health resourcecenter that has different
informational just informationalsheets, as well as activities
that have to do with navigatinga new diagnosis, anxiety,
depression, eating disorders,resilience.
Coping skills, self care, thewhole gamut of anything that
(23:18):
deals with mental wellnessthat's gonna be in there.
The A to Z checklist that Italked to you about that's in
there as well as differentsheets for families, kids,
teens, adults with foodallergies and caretakers.
So it's across the lifespan thatthese resources address, because
kids with food allergies becomesteens with food allergies who
(23:39):
often become adults with foodallergies.
And as I mentioned a little bitearlier, the caretaker or the
parent can't be left out of thisequation either because a lot of
the time we do really focus on.
Treatment management for thechild, anxiety management for
the child, without talking aboutthose same things, for whoever
is caretaking for that child,anxiety management for them,
(24:01):
coping skills for them, selfcare for them and all of these
things.
So we're addressing the wholelifespan.
Anybody that.
Could need those things, thosethings are on there for them as
well as for other comorbidconditions.
So we do talk a lot aboutanxiety and food allergies, but
it's also not uncommon to sufferfrom depression or be at a
(24:21):
higher risk for an eatingdisorder when it comes to having
a food allergy.
And I think those are importanttopics to talk about and address
and for parents to be aware of,to look for warning signs
Children that have anxiety areat a higher risk for depression
when they're in a teen and anadult.
So even if that's not a concernnow, if you're seeing anxiety,
it could be a concern later.
(24:42):
And that's not said to scareanybody, but it's said to,
that's why we develop copingskills.
That's why we develop self-careand put protective factors in
place like a community ortherapy or, parents that
parents, you know, are open andtalking about feelings.
All these things, good friendsthat understand your food
allergies, all these serve asprotective factors that can be
preventative from any of thatever happening.
(25:05):
And then lastly, which I do loveto talk about, is there's an
area about resilience.
And resilience is just a big,fancy word for the ability to
bounce back in the face ofadversity.
And we know as parents,caregivers, kids, adults,
whoever's watching the podcasttoday professionals that.
Deal with food allergies.
We need resilience because hardthings do happen and when we
(25:28):
have the right things in place,hopefully they don't, but the
hard things and are not alwaysas serious as an anaphylactic
reaction.
Sometimes the hard things areyour friend's birthday party
taking place at a sushirestaurant and you have a fish
or shellfish allergy.
Sometimes the hard things is,you know, the work party
ordering pizza and.
(25:49):
You know, they forgot you.
They forgot about you, and youhave a dairy allergy, right?
Like myself or whatever it maybe.
And you need resilience to beable to bounce back from that
and keep going and it not, youknow.
Drag you down.
So there's information onresilience, but there's also a
downloadable kit that is meantfor families to complete
together.
You could print it, it comeswith coloring pages and activity
(26:12):
sheets, and there'saffirmations, which is just
positive things that you cansay.
So we like to change negativeself-talk to positive self-talk,
so, you know.
Thinking something after, youknow, a birthday party doesn't
have a cake, that you can have anegative thought pattern.
Might be, my friends don'treally care about me.
Well, we know that that's anextreme and that would be a
(26:33):
thinking trap.
And that's, you know, probablynot the reaction that's gonna be
helpful.
But it affirmation could be, Ihave really good friends or.
I have a family that cares aboutme, or I can have a safe snack
later.
So whatever it might be.
So there's affirmations that youcan color and cut out, hang them
up on your fridge or in thebathroom mirror.
(26:53):
You wanna practice those withyour children.
There's also worksheets of withwhat if scenarios.
What if you couldn't have thesnack that was brought to
school?
What would you, what would youdo?
And you're doing this as afamily.
So then, you know, mom mightsay, I would do this.
Dad might say I would do this.
Sister might say, I would dothis.
And you talk about it as afamily.
All these skills help buildresilience.
Right.
In some ways I wish I didn'thave food allergies because life
(27:17):
would be easier.
I mean, I could go torestaurants without worry.
I could take something off theshelf without worry.
But, or, and.
I wouldn't have met the peoplethat I have.
I wouldn't have met you.
Right.
We wouldn't have got connectedto do this podcast today.
I have lifelong friends, mycollege roommate and friend.
I attended her wedding a coupleweeks ago.
(27:39):
She and I met at a teen, apreteen conference when we were
11.
We would've never met, if ithadn't been for food allergies.
My husband and I travel withanother girl that I met at Camp
Tag.
We were both counselors.
So through these differentstages of life, so many key
people to me I wouldn't have metif I didn't have food allergies.
So we need that resiliencebecause the fact, the unchanging
(28:02):
fact, unless we outgrow our foodallergies, is we do have food
allergies.
So what is the good that we canfind from that?
And there is a lot of good to befound.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (28:10):
There are so many things in what you
just said that I wanna touch on.
You caught.
Yourself, you said, but, andthen you said, and you changed
it to and because that and makessuch a big difference, right?
The language you use is soimportant.
I can feel the disappointmentand the sadness about all these
things and recognize and holdspace
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (28:26):
Hmm.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (28:26):
of those.
Thank you for giving an exampleof how that's true because you
are holding space for all ofthose things.
That's how life is, right?
This big full experience withthe hard parts and the ability
to recognize the growth and thebenefits that are.
Connected to it.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (28:41):
Yes.
And I think even teaching, I'msure you talk to your clients
about it and I use this with mystudents as well, but I don't
get the same opportunity you doto work so much every day with
clients with food allergies.
But that dialectic of putting inthat and can be very powerful
because not only do we dismissothers with the butt, but we
dismiss ourselves.
And I think, you know, I didstruggle for a while of like.
(29:04):
Can I feel like I don't want myfood allergies and feel glad
that I have them for the certainextents of opportunities that
come along have come along,would I change it?
You know?
And those are, those are hard.
And I, I am grateful for thepeople that being a part of the
food allergy community hasbrought into my life.
And, you know, I do hope thatthere's a day when food
(29:27):
allergies aren't as prevalentor, you know, can be managed in
a different way too.
And I do.
Put in that and, and I think alot of your listeners would
start to kind of feel the reliefand feel better to allow
themselves the space to put inan, and I'm worried about my
child, and I believe that theycan grow up to be an
independent, successful adultthat manages their anxiety and
(29:49):
their food allergies well.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (29:52):
Right.
And it just takes time to
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S (29:53):
Mm-hmm.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (29:53):
I'm not saying, and I know you're not
saying the day your child'sdiagnosed, you
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., N (29:57):
No, no, no.
Of course not.
Yes.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (30:00):
take time.
But there's, there's hope.
It, it grows.
You grow.
Around your challenge, just likeeverybody else and their
challenges that they have.
There's one more piece of whatyou said that I don't wanna lose
that I think is so importantthat you were emphasizing doing
and practicing the skills beforethey are needed.
We have to practice.
Stuff before the moment arriveswhere we need it.
(30:21):
Because once we're already in adysregulated state, we're not
gonna be able to access it.
Remember it.
It's not a safety signal to ourbodies.
So I just, I think you arehitting that point home.
And I wanted to too.
We, we just have to practicejust like we would practice any
other skill, right.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., NC (30:37):
So well said.
And that's exactly right.
And I would suggest making it apart of your routine in a fun
way.
And this is from my ownexperience, and also working
with some teens with foodallergies as over the years as
part of my role with FAACT, wecan get a certain resistance
from children and teens when itcomes to, Hey, we need to talk
about this.
Like, let's sit down.
(30:58):
Blah, blah.
And it's, it's kind of, it'sforced, it's uncomfortable at
times.
It could be a little bit awkwardand the parent's gonna be
dismissed.
The child might not remember it.
But if you can make it routineand have it be for, if you have
multiple children and some havefood allergies and some not.
Have it be a family practicerather than just a practice
specifically for your foodallergic child as well.
(31:20):
Because, let's face it, everyoneneeds coping skills.
It's just certainly gonna helpin specific situations for
people with food allergies andhave it be a part of your
routine.
Maybe before you have dinner,you say an affirmation or maybe
after dinner every night orevery other night or something
once a week, if that works foryour schedule.
You take a walk or when you wakeup before you send your kids out
(31:43):
the door to the bus, everybodytakes a deep breath, kind of
like an exit ticket from thehouse.
You breathe out when you leave,you breathe in when you come
back.
And it doesn't have to be okay,this is what you would do if you
had a reaction, or this is whatwe would do if you, you know
needed to go to the restaurantor your waiter brought the wrong
food, but you didn't need it.
You know, you wouldn't do it inthat high pressured scenario.
(32:04):
You would have it be a part ofpractice and.
You would have them use it too,not only in those, we call them
like non escalated times, or,you know, the regulated times or
when a child's calm, whateveryou wanna refer to it as.
You can also use it in, inmoments that.
Have everyday anxiety.
Your child has a project comingup, they're nervous for a math
(32:26):
test.
You know, you wanna show them,you said this earlier, anxiety
is a feeling that comes and goeslike any other feeling.
So anxiety is gonna come and goas it relates to food.
Allergies and anxiety is gonnacome and go as it relates to
daily things, or not even daily,but just things that hope happen
over time.
You know, anxiety on a math testeventually.
Becomes anxiety for a bigmeeting, right?
(32:47):
And anxiety for a big meetingmight eventually come into
anxiety about, you know, whichnew car should I buy that, you
know, or, or, you know, marriageor house or having a child,
whatever it might be, right?
Through the stages of life, thethings that make us anxious come
and go.
Things that make us happy, comeand go, or the things that we
get jealous of, come and go.
(33:08):
All these things are just astate, and I love how you said
that earlier.
And the same is true foranxiety.
So if we can also for ourchildren with food allergies,
not just focus on.
That's the only time topractice.
Or if we're doing scenarios,which I think is a great thing
to do, role play.
If you have little kidsincorporate puppets or they're
stuffed animals, that's a greatthing.
(33:29):
Don't just do food allergyrelated examples.
Certainly do them, but alsoinclude other examples so that
they see, oh, this isn't just anemotion that I feel as it
relates to my food allergies.
I was anxious before this testand it went well.
I can be anxious before a foodchallenge and it go well, right?
Or these different things likethat.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (33:46):
Thank you so much for explaining that
it's so important and it's justa life skill we need, like you
said, everybody needs it.
No reason to single out our foodallergy kiddos anymore than they
already get
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S. (33:55):
That's true.
Yes.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (33:56):
at them.
So I would love for you to talka little bit more about your
role as a school psychologist.
I think, you know, as you said,it's not specific to food
allergies, but I don't think alot of people really know what a
school psychologist is unlessthey have a kid who's
specifically been involved withcertain services at school.
Emery Brown, M.A., (34:14):
Absolutely.
So my tagline for how I explainwhat a school psychologist is,
is we help children emotionally,behaviorally, academically, and
socially.
So across the gamut, you know,school psychologists.
Wear many hats.
A main role that you might thinkof when it comes to a school
psychologist is they also serveas case managers for children
with individualized educationplans or IEPs.
(34:35):
So if you have a specialeducation child, that might be a
term that you're familiar withcase manager's job, or to ensure
the effective implementation ofthat IEP, but also school
psychologists are mental healthprofessionals, so we provide.
Individual counseling.
We provide group counseling,class lessons.
Some school psychologists arealso involved with 5 0 4, which
(34:56):
many food allergy parents mightbe familiar with.
If your child has a 5 0 4 planfor food allergies.
In my district, I'm not the 5 04 coordinator, but I do often
sit on 5 0 4 meetings because Isometimes counsel students that
have a 5 0 4 plan.
So that's an important part.
Of things.
I started my career as atraditional school psychologist,
but I became my district'scomprehensive mental health
(35:19):
specialist.
So now I exclusively do mentalhealth in my district because
I'm a school-based registeredplay therapist as well.
And play is obviously a powerfullearning tool, but it's also a
powerful healing tool, which iswhy I have essentially changed
over.
The way that I do counselingwithin the school space to that.
And my credentialing as a schoolpsychologist allowed me to take
(35:40):
on this role at as fact, at factas the director of behavioral
health.
So, you know, many years ago Iwould speak at fact, you know,
just as a person with foodallergies.
And that's why I love thelifespan continuum because.
I, I became, was a kid, became ateen, became a young adult,
became a professional, and now Iget to work in, in a space that
(36:01):
I have professional knowledgeabout and personal knowledge
about.
So it's incredibly fulfilling tome.
But back to the role of a schoolpsychologist you know, I get to
actually be hands-on.
Boots on the ground givingmental health services through
specifically play therapy.
Almost a hundred percent at mydistrict.
So while a school psychologistwears many hats, I now kind of
(36:21):
have stuck to one.
Because mental health reallyjust became a passion out of all
those different things.
So I do do intelligence testingand academic testing.
I work with the specialeducation population.
I do gifted testing, all thesedifferent things, but my main
wheelhouse now is mental healthservices through the vesicle of
play therapy and San Tray forsome older children as well.
(36:45):
And it is incredibly fulfillingwork and I, that's why I said
earlier that it's not just thatI've lived these things, which I
think is important, but I'veseen strategies work.
The strategies that we'retalking about the strategies
that you talk about a lot,Amanda, the strategies that are
on facts website.
I've seen them work.
I've seen them work for kidswith food allergies.
I've seen them work without.
(37:06):
So I love being a schoolpsychologist and I do think that
a lot of kids, teens out therewho grow up to be people that
like helping people becausepeople have helped them.
And you know, I just feel likepeople with food allergies have
that kindhearted helping nature.
School psychology is a greatcareer option for yeah, we need,
we have a shortage of schoolpsychologists.
We could definitely use moreyoung people going into the
(37:28):
profession.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (37:29):
Yeah, to parents if you're trying to
encourage your kids what fieldsto go into.
Like all the schoolpsychologists are retiring now,
so we need them.
And so your position sounds likea such a dream job though.
I, I, a lot of districts don'thave a school psych in that role
specifically, so that's amazingfor you.
It sounds great.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (37:47):
Yes.
So actually in New Jersey,they're, they're pushing for
more mental health.
But this role is unique to mydistrict and I'm hopeful that
more school psychologists willget this opportunity and be
recognized for the advancedmental health training that they
have.
New Jersey released a guide tomulti-tiered approach for mental
health within the schools.
So some districts are trying tobe able to fulfill that by
(38:10):
adding more mental healthprofessionals in the school
which means that more.
More kids are gonna get accessto things they need.
And that it's gonna go for kidsthat have food at Archie's as
well, because we know thatschool can be an environment and
setting where, you know, theparent's not there.
So the parent might feel anxiousand the child doesn't have as
much control because you, I meanthat's, that's a whole nother
conversation about controlwithin, you know, the school
(38:32):
setting.
But food is involved in theschool setting, so it can be a
place for where food allergicchildren have more anxiety.
So when there's mental healthproviders in the space that are
equipped to help obviously in mycase, I, you know, am equipped
specifically for food allergiesas well.
But, you know, I obviously thinkthere's a realm for professional
development for schoolprofessionals, for handling
(38:54):
anxiety when it comes when as itrelates to food allergies.
But it can be an anxietyprovoking space.
So I am definitely supportive ofmore mental health professionals
knowing about food allergies andbeing in the schools to help
children with anxiety.
Amanda Whitehouse, (39:09):
Absolutely.
That's gotta be so helpful.
The time when this episode isgoing to be out is the time of
year where, okay, we've, we'vegotten into school, we're doing
the routine, and now is when theconcerns start to arise, right?
Referrals start coming in.
Certainly it won't be everyone,but for parents who might either
have their own concerns abouttheir kids wondering if they
need more evaluation for anytype of a concern in the
(39:32):
classroom, or if someone at theschool has approached you and
said.
have this concern with yourchild and here's what we wanna
do.
Could you just tell them alittle bit about that process to
make it a little less foreignand scary to parents
Emery Brown, M.A., (39:45):
Absolutely.
I think it's scary because it'sjust another unknown, right?
And food allergy parents mightbe used to having to deal with
unknowns and unpredictabilityand things coming up.
But I also know when, let's justsay you're worried about your
child's mental health, or you'reworried about their academic
performance, or someone bringsthat worry to you, that's just
another unexpected that can.
You know, start the spiral of,okay, now there's just another
(40:07):
thing on my plate.
So, number one, utilize yourcoping skills.
That's a great opportunity touse it, but just like we
combated mental health stigmafor so many years, there's, you
know, academic stigma, f.
For learning disabilities orneeding IEPs.
That still exists, some placesthat stigma, but I look at it as
(40:27):
a way to get the help that yourchild needs.
Specifically.
It's individualized.
It's if you're, if we're talkingabout an IEP, obviously 5 0 4 is
different, so we're talking,does your child need
accommodations or modificationswithin the school?
If you have concerns, the bestthing to do would be to reach
out to your child's teacherfirst, because the teacher might
say, well.
You know, we haven't discussedX, Y, Z yet, or you know,
(40:50):
they're a little bit behindright now, but let's wait till
after the next test to kind ofsee if we need to do something.
But then you would go to yourchild study team.
If you're, if you're concerned,there's no harm in reaching out.
There's a lot of scary discourseonline about, you know, you
gotta come prepared to fight oryou know, this or that.
And unfortunately, I know thatthere are experiences where
parents have had to do that.
(41:11):
And that makes me sad as aperson on the child study team
because I know how my districtand our team operates and our
only goal is to help the childand in turn, help the family.
Right.
And that's, I.
Would hope to think is the heartof most school professionals
that are sitting on a childstudy team.
So go, hopefully you can go inwith that and not feel scared to
just reach out and ask aquestion.
(41:32):
They'll hold a meeting.
State to state, there'sdifferent regulations of how
quickly you have to have thatmeeting or who has to be there.
So I won't speak to that.
But they will have to honor thatand hold a meeting and discuss.
They'll present you withdifferent things.
Oh, this is your child'sbenchmarking.
Your child is in X, Y, Zpercentile.
Which means, you know, if yourchild's in the.
10th percentile.
(41:52):
If you lined up a hundred kidsthat child's age, they would
only do better than 10 of them.
So you know, that's not thatgreat.
Or if your child's in the 83rdpercentile in that same a
hundred kid lineup, they'd dobetter than 83 of them.
So that's.
Your child's above average,right?
With 50 being in the average.
So hopefully your child studyteam would be explaining these
different things, but I wouldsay don't be afraid to reach
(42:13):
out.
Your 5 0 4 coordinator would bewho you would reach out to if
you don't already have a 5 0 4for food allergies, or if you
do, if your child does haveanother co-occurring condition
like a DHD or anxiety or anotherhealth condition.
I think that it's important tohave those things documented so
that you can legally ensure thatyour child's getting the support
that they need.
(42:34):
Sometimes, I'm just gonna usethe example of A DHD.
Sometimes your child would needan IEP because they're
presenting as a need forspecially designed instruction.
Sometimes they wouldn't,sometimes they just need
different accommodations, likesitting closer to the teacher
or, someone monitoring theirorganization or having a wobble
seat, right?
These aren't, these aren'tmodifications or changes to the
(42:54):
way something's being presented.
They're just little adjustmentsthat's gonna help your child
succeed.
So don't be afraid to reach outto support.
Don't be afraid to go to yourchild's teacher.
I know that it can be scary andthat you might just feel like
it's another thing piling on,but the people at school really
wanna help you and obviously youreally wanna help your child.
So the supports exist.
(43:15):
In schools for a reason, and thesystems exist in schools for a
reason and there's gonna bepeople there that are gonna
wanna walk you through thosesystems so that your child can
get what they need.
Amanda Whitehouse, (43:25):
Definitely.
Just to clarify What are someother terms?
Child study team The committeeon special Education.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S (43:30):
There's so many different acronyms when
it comes to special educationrelated services, counseling,
whatever it may be.
So.
You're gonna wanna look forsomething in the Student
Services department.
It could be special educationteam, could be INRS, which is
Intervention and referralservices.
It could be referred to as that5 0 4 is definitely gonna be
(43:51):
universal, so there's definitelygonna be a 5 0 4 director, co,
or coordinator.
Intake coordinator, plugwhatever you want to after that.
But I would always recommendgoing to the teacher first
because the teacher's gonna havethe most holistic view of your
child and know your child best,and your, the teacher's gonna
for sure be on your team.
So go to them first.
And if there is a differentacronym or a different team,
(44:13):
some sub states well actuallyall states, like if you're
looking at.
Some sort of specific learningdisability of some kind.
You have to try differentinterventions first before you
would ever go to things.
And that's true even for otherconditions like anxiety, A DHD,
you're gonna wanna actually tryinterventions.
So a lot of places might havesome sort of intervention team
and they call that lots ofdifferent things.
(44:34):
So go to your teacher first andthey're gonna point you in the
right direction if you're askingthe right question.
So if your right questions are,I'm looking for help for my
child for X, y, Z thing, they'regonna point you in the right
direction for sure.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (44:47):
Great point.
That's your touch point for themost part, because they know
your child better than anyoneelse in the school.
Right.
Thank you for clarifying.
It's overwhelming.
I feel like we could do a wholemonth's worth of.
Episodes on that
Emery Brown, M.A., (44:57):
Absolutely.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (44:58):
Yeah, thank you for sharing that.
We skipped over talking aboutCamp Tag, that FAACT holds, and
I would love to make sure we geta little bit in on that and
maybe even next year we can do amore in depth chat.
But you're, you are a formercamper and counselor and
obviously now with theorganization, I can't think of
anyone better than you to telleverybody what Camp Tag is.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (45:18):
Thank you and absolutely I think that
everyone should know about Canttag if you have a child with
food allergies.
I definitely consider sendingyour child to Camp tag.
There's also scholarships forCamp Tag as well.
So it's certainly, definitelyaccessible and is in several
locations across the UnitedStates.
Camp TAG stands for the AllergyGang and it services kids from
(45:40):
age four to 13.
So it's a wide age range, butkids that are 14 and beyond are
not left behind because that'sthe time that they can be
counselors.
So actually the first year thatcamp Tag.
Was, you know.
In action.
I was actually 14, so I startedas a counselor.
I was just shy by a year to beable to be a camper, and I still
(46:02):
am a little bit upset that Inever got the true chance to be
a camper.
But the way that we run the teencounselors is they, they lead a
group of kids in that four to 13age group.
You get assigned an age groupand that is gonna be your
counseling group.
For the week.
But the teens still get toparticipate in the activities as
much as possible.
So really when you're a teen,you still are getting a camp
(46:25):
experience as well, because wehave people that are on staff
and adults that are counselorswe call them leaders that help
for the week as well.
This upcoming year.
We're gonna be in Nashville andOhio again.
It's a powerful time for notonly kids with food allergies,
but their siblings as well.
So you can be a camper or acounselor if you are a.
(46:45):
Someone that has a sibling withfood allergies as well.
It's a time for the wholefamily, so we're not gonna leave
anybody out.
If you are a part of a householdthat's managing food allergies,
you're definitely welcome to bethere.
But it's a camp where.
You can have fun just like anyother camp, we say 95% fun, 5%
education.
So from zip lining to playinggaga to arts and crafts, this is
(47:08):
a true camp.
But that 5% of education issomething so unique to Camp Tag
that you're not gonna be able toget anywhere else.
The teen counselors lead this.
We talk about bullying, we talkabout.
Anxiety.
We talk about managing your foodallergies, recognizing the signs
and symptoms of anaphylaxis, andwe know that parents are talking
about this in their home, butit's a whole nother thing to
(47:29):
talk about it with kids your ageand then see someone older than
you who's effectively managing.
Those allergies, it's reallypowerful.
For some of our kids it's, youknow, some of the only times
that they're around people withmultiple food allergies like
them.
You can have one allergy, youcan have multiple again to be
part of the camp.
But for kids that are managingmultiple food allergies.
(47:49):
It's some of the first time thatthey're, they're sitting with a
whole room of all people thatare going through something the
same as them.
Our snacks are free of the topnine major allergens.
Last year our safe snack wassponsored by Red Plate Foods.
And.
We are in a room where everyoneis eating the same snack.
That's unheard of for a kid or ateen with food allergies, right?
(48:10):
Even those moments are just sospecial and so unique to the
experience.
So if you're listening and youhave a kid or teen that's in
that four to 13 age range, or 14to 18 for a counselor,
definitely look at our website.
Stay tuned for upcoming datesfor 2026.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (48:26):
Yes, and make plans now because
everybody's summers are busy,but this is the have that on
your radar I love that aspect ofthis because everyone in the
family is impacted by foodallergies, not just.
The individual who has them.
So what an amazing program.
You have created so many greatresources, Emery.
I appreciate all of the work andeverything you're putting out
there for everybody.
I will put links to everythingin the show notes so that it's
(48:48):
easy for people to find
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (48:49):
Well, thank you so much.
I appreciate what you're doingtoo.
I mean, I love your podcast andthank you so much for having me
on.
As we wrap up, here are threeaction steps that you can take
to follow up on today'sconversation with Emery.
Number one, follow FAACT If youdo not already, their website is
food allergy awareness.org.
You'll find them if you searchby name on Facebook and on
Instagram they're at FAACT News.
(49:09):
FAACT is spelled with two a'snumber two, Once you've made
sure that you're following them,so that you don't miss anything,
go to their website and click onthe heading Behavioral Health.
In this section, you'll see whatI'm talking about.
This amazing behavioral healthresource center that Emery has
created, and number three, ifyou're not already connected
with me on social media, you canfind me by searching for Amanda
(49:30):
Whitehouse, the food allergypsychologist on Facebook or on
my Instagram.
@thefoodallergypsychologist,i'll be sharing lots of
highlights and some of myfavorite content from the FAACT
Allergy Summit If you weren'table to join us there, you can
check out what you've missed andstart thinking about whether
you'd like to plan ahead andjoin us next year.
in what is really an inspiringand a validating weekend with
(49:51):
community.
As always, thank you so much forlistening.
I hope you're finding the showhelpful, and if you are, I would
appreciate a rating or a reviewand if you would share the
episode with anyone you thinkwould enjoy listening too the
content of this podcast is forinformational and educational
purposes only, and is not asubstitute for professional
medical or mental health advice,diagnosis, or treatment.
(50:13):
If you have any questions aboutyour own medical experience or
mental health needs, pleaseconsult a professional.
I'm Dr.
Amanda Whitehouse.
Thanks for joining me.
And until we chat again,remember don't feed the fear.
Welcome to the Don't Feed the Fear podcast, where we
dive into the complex world offood allergy anxiety.
I'm your host, Dr.
Amanda Whitehouse, food allergyanxiety psychologist and food
allergy mom.
Whether you're dealing withallergies yourself or supporting
someone who is, join us for anempathetic and informative
journey toward food allergy calmand confidence..
(00:22):
Welcome back to Don't Feed TheFear.
This episode is coming out justafter I returned from the Food
Allergy Anaphylaxis ConnectionTeam or FAACT's Allergy Summit,
where I got to spend some moretime with Emery Brown, a school
psychologist.
Emery is such a great resource.
She knows about FAACT way backto when she started with them as
a volunteer teen counselorthrough their summer programs
(00:43):
for Children, and now as theirdirector of behavioral health.
She brings to this position herown stories and experience of
living as a young person and anadult with food allergies, and
she has been working on creatingan amazing resource center with
so many things that I want youto check out and utilize.
Emery and I talk about theexperiences of children and
families as they navigateanxiety.
(01:05):
School challenges, the emotionalside of living with food
allergies, her interest in playtherapy, I'm so excited to share
our conversation with you today.
I know you'll enjoy hearing fromher just as much as I do.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (01:16):
Emery, it's so good to see you again.
Thanks for coming here onto thepodcast to talk about all
things, food allergies, schoolpsychology, mental health, and
behavioral health.
I'm so excited to
Emery Brown, M.A., (01:25):
Absolutely.
I'm glad to be here.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (01:26):
Let's start, by sharing your history
and your personal experiencethat brought you into the food
allergy world and community.
Emery Brown, M.A., (01:33):
Absolutely.
So I was diagnosed with foodallergies when I was eight
months old because my auntdropped ice cream on me when she
was having some ice cream, and Ibroke out in hives.
Thankfully, my parents alreadyknew what food allergies were
because of my sister who has apeanut, tree nut and soy
allergy.
So they, as soon as they saw thehives, they knew that it was
probably food allergy and got mea.
(01:55):
Appointment with an allergistwhere I was diagnosed with a
anaphylactic dairy allergy.
Luckily, obviously it was foundout when it was dropped on my
skin rather than ingested.
I got an EpiPen and from there Iwas also diagnosed with an egg
allergy that I outgrew when Iwas six years old.
But then as time went on, I didalso developed a peanut allergy,
(02:15):
fish allergy, shellfish allergyand tree nut allergy.
But I was able to outgrowshellfish as a young adult, and
my last allergist appointmentactually showed that I wasn't
coming up allergic to finfisheither.
So I actually have an upcomingfood challenge for that, which
is really exciting.
But when I was a young adult aswell.
While some of those allergieswere going away, I also was
(02:36):
diagnosed with my peanut allergyand treatment allergies in my
twenties.
So I've had lifelong allergies.
I've never been without them,but they've changed over time.
But basically been in the foodallergy world since I was a
child.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (02:49):
that's so much change., A lot of people
have food allergies and thenmaybe outgrow some of them, but
Has it been hard to adjustthroughout your life in terms
of, I'm not allergic to thisanymore, now I'm allergic to
this and changing your routines.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S. (03:01):
That's an interesting question and I
would definitely say yes.
I'd say it's a little bit easierfor me because my sister has
food allergies.
All my cousins do, and while mysister's allergies haven't
fluctuated, they were differentthan mine growing up.
So we were used to kind ofcatering to different things.
When I became allergic topeanuts at 21, it was definitely
(03:21):
very upsetting because I.
Loved peanut butter.
That's all I could say, youknow, because I have no you
know, state of reference for mydairy allergy.
I've always been allergic andI'm still allergic, but, you
know, I had the taste, but allmy cousins are allergic and so
is my sister.
So it wasn't that big of a deal.
And I am married and my husbandgave up all my food allergies
(03:43):
and, you know, he didn't find ita shift at all.
So it's kind of, I think whenyou're in the world, I always
say.
You find other things that youreally like, and so at one time
it felt like a big deal, butthen as I found more and more
things that I like as I got apassion for cooking, as I got a
passion for finding restaurantsthat cater to multiple food
(04:04):
allergies and special meals andthis and that, it became a lot
smaller of a deal.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (04:12):
So there's just, there's an
adjustment period as you findalternatives and maybe mourn a
little bit some of the favoritefoods when you lose
Emery Brown, M.A., (04:18):
Definitely.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (04:19):
That's tough..
I wanna get into your work atFAACT, but you just mentioned a
couple things that I know peoplereally love to hear about.
And one of them is likerelationships and, and marriage
with food allergies.
And I, you know, I think peoplefeel discouraged about finding a
partner who will accommodatethem, but I meet so many young
people who are like, yeah, mypartner was like, no problem.
So do you wanna talk about whatthat was like for you as you
were growing up and getting intodating life?
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (04:41):
This is definitely one of my favorite
topics to address I startedvolunteering with FAACT and
attending conferences related tofood allergies ever since I was
a kid.
So now I'm on the other side ofthat as a professional and an
adult and addressing kids andteens that.
I used to sit in their seat andlisten to other people that were
in my seat talking about it.
(05:02):
And I can remember being 12 andgoing to my first food allergy
conference against my will.
My parents made me go and Iremember listening to different
things about dating and schooland field trips and eating out,
and I didn't care about it atall.
You know, it put it in my backpocket.
Save it for another day.
But I kept going back to theconferences.
(05:22):
You make relationships withpeople and then there comes a
point in your life where thethings that you were learning
become a applicable.
And so I am glad that my parentsmade me go to those different
things even before I was readyfor it because I learned a lot
of things that I definitely wasable to apply later.
A lot of food allergy parentssay if someone doesn't respect
your food allergies, thenthey're not gonna respect you.
(05:44):
And I think that that is areally real statement.
And previously to finding myhusband, I dated people that
were great about my foodallergies, and I dated people
that didn't care and.
When I started dating myhusband, he actually would drink
half a gallon of milk a day.
This man loved milk, and when wegot engaged and obviously
married, you know, he gave itup.
(06:05):
Now he drinks about half gallonof oat milk, you know, and he
says he can't even remember whatmilk tastes like anymore,
probably for the best.
But I think it's.
Continually an importantconversation to talk about
because I do think a lot ofpeople think that they have to
settle or there's no way thatthat could happen to them.
But I did mention my sister hasfood allergies as well, and her
(06:27):
husband gave up her allergens aswell.
So this is something that I'veseen happen for other people as
well, and I like to cautionparents too.
That even if your kid is annoyedby having these conversations,
they're important conversationsto have.
Because while I don't like totalk about the history before my
husband, I actually have had areaction kissing someone that
(06:49):
had a milkshake before, and Iwell knew that they had one, but
I just didn't think that itwould happen.
I knew.
You're not supposed to do that.
Right.
But that current partner didn'treally care and I wasn't gonna
make it a big deal because Ireally wanted to date that
person.
And I did.
I mean, it was a, it was not ananaphylactic reaction luckily,
but it was still scary and stillkind of, a wake up call for me
(07:11):
that this does happen and maybethis person doesn't care about
me the way that they should.
And definitely my husband does.
And if anything, he, sometimes,of course I take my food
allergies really seriously, butsometimes I feel like he even
takes them more seriously.
And he's my biggest advocate.
He never leaves the housewithout EpiPens in his pocket as
well.
He's a great supporter.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (07:32):
Well, that's awesome.
You make a good point, but it'sone of those things.
Sometimes teens just have toexperience not just teens,
everyone, humans have toexperience things for themselves
in order to learn.
So we obviously don't wanna havethem have a huge dangerous
reaction.
But like you said, having thatknowledge beforehand when it
wasn't necessarily time for ityet, but you had already been
exposed to Ideas is a big helpin terms of being prepared.
(07:55):
Then when the moment comes, youstill didn't obviously make the
ideal decision, but you had someknowledge going into it and some
preparation that.
You know, I think probably wasimportant in how you responded
when you started to have areaction.
Emery Brown, M.A., (08:07):
Absolutely.
And I'm sure that you'refamiliar with the statistics
about those risk taking ages andthat like late teens into the
early twenties is the biggesttime we see risk taking when it
comes to food allergy and lotsof other things of course, as
well.
But I think.
There's a kind of thing that weall say that I definitely agree
with that food allergy kids tendto be more respectful.
(08:28):
They are more responsible.
They're reading ingredientlabels, you know, they mature
faster because they have this,you know.
Health condition that they haveto manage and they have to learn
to do that well andindependently, but at the same
time, they're still a kid andthey're still in those years.
And I think a lot of parentsmight say, like, not my child,
(08:48):
they wouldn't do that.
I know my parents would've, youknow, I was a high achieving
high school student.
I, you know, went to college ona scholarship and I took risks
that I'm not proud of.
And the reason that I share thatis because I think you don't
ever wanna think that your childis.
Different in the way thatthey're not gonna go through
that or fall to peer pressure orwanting to fit in.
(09:09):
That's why we do have theconversations in advance, and
that's why we have thoseconversations repeatedly with
the hope that when our child isfaced with a more problematic
situation, whether it's kissingsomeone that ate an allergen or
they're at a party and theydon't know what's in a beverage,
or they're at a restaurant thatmaybe they wouldn't have gone to
otherwise because they don'thave allergen protocols, they'll
be prepared to make the rightdecision and the smart decision
(09:31):
and the decision that ultimatelykeeps them safe.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (09:34):
Yeah.
I'm so glad you're sharing that.
Thank you.
Because I think it makes a good.
Think of things so black andwhite and it's not just like,
oh, they're a really good kid.
I know they wouldn't do that.
It is a phase of development,but it's actually like an
important stage for kids to gothrough and develop.
So if we can put somescaffolding and structure around
it to help them do it moresafely, yes.
But they do still need to takerisks and step out on their own
and learn to make their owndecisions.
(09:55):
It's not that we just want themto do everything we say forever
and not go through that teenagephase.
Emery Brown, M.A., E (10:01):
Incredibly well said.
And I actually think thatthat's, that's something that
parents can really work to.
What's an appropriate risk?
Risk That doesn't come with anysort of consequences in the
sense of they'll have anallergic reaction, but what's an
appropriate risk that you cantalk through with your child to
get them to that next steps?
State of development.
So can it be that you arecomfortable with them going out
(10:23):
with their friends to theirfavorite safe restaurant and you
don't need to be there becauseyou know that they're gonna
order the same thing that theyalways ordered.
They're gonna ask the questionsthat you have watched them ask
and train them to ask, andyou're ready for them to do that
on their own.
Could it be that you feel likethey can go to a new restaurant
and order a safe item that.
It doesn't contain theirallergens.
(10:43):
Even as an adult with foodallergies I get nervous at new
restaurants sometimes, you know?
But sometimes I'll go to forthat social situation with
friends.
But do you feel like that's acontained risk that you can
allow your child to take becauseone day then you're not gonna be
there?
So.
Containing a risk and kind ofhaving it be a, you know, a safe
test of what can they handle andcan they actually implement the
(11:08):
skills that you've helped themlearn and you've taught them.
That's a good thing that I wouldencourage parents to do.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (11:14):
Yeah, definitely.
Thank you for explaining that soclearly because it's so
important and it's so hard forus to do as parents too, so we
need the reminders all the time.
One of the other things I wantedto touch on, a lot of the
clients that I work with again,back to black or white thinking.
Either think that their partnerswon't accommodate, and that
that's gonna be so hard.
I don't wanna disclose it.
Or this idea that my partnermust avoid and never eat all my
(11:38):
allergens.
And I just wanna emphasize, Ithink for people listening, it
doesn't always mean they don'tsupport you if they refuse to
never eat your allergens again,right?
Like you have to individuallyhash that out with someone that
you're in a relationship, justlike any topic between the two
of you.
Emery Brown, M.A., (11:52):
Absolutely, and obviously the best
conclusion is one that you bothfeel comfortable with.
I'm actually obviously veryhappy that my husband gave up my
food allergens, but if he wasmore comfortable as.
You know, eating them when I'maway for trips or you know, if
we know that he, you know, if hewanted to eat something for
breakfast and he was gonna brushhis teeth and you know, that.
(12:15):
Six hour timeframe was gonna belong gone with double brushings
until we were back together.
I would be comfortable withthat.
It was my husband that wasn't,and he said something very
powerful to me that, you know,he just wanted to, to make sure
that there was nothing I everhad to second guess.
And I think when you dosometimes have anxiety related
to your food allergies, nothaving to second guess something
(12:37):
is, you know, a huge relief.
But I absolutely agree with you.
It's whatever you as a couple.
Both feel comfortable withwithout you sacrificing what
ultimately makes you comfortablein this situation.
Not that you're minimizing yourpartner, but you are the one
that ultimately has to managethe food allergies and feel
comfortable.
So for me, I am excited that nowI have my own house where there
(12:59):
hasn't been a single allergenthat's ever, you know, touched
it.
But I grew up in a house wheremy parents safely.
Kept my allergens and they keptit separate from the things that
I ate.
Right?
So this, I'm now an adult that'schoosing what feels right for me
with the support of my partner.
But you are absolutely right.
It's going to be different fromeveryone.
(13:20):
And just because someone'spartner does eat their
allergens, it can still comewith a huge amount of support
and respect.
It's what you're deciding for,the safety of both of you and
the comfort of both of you.
Absolutely.
Amanda Whitehouse, (13:31):
Absolutely, and, and you touched on a big
part.
Of what factors into thatconversation.
Safety obviously is the utmostimportant thing to establish in,
in whatever you work out, butanxiety about food allergies
plays such a big role and so Iwould love for you to talk
about, you know, your role atFAACT in helping people with
that and what you've learnedsince you've been in that role.
(13:52):
Both as an individual livingwith it, and now professionally
helping other people manage it.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S. (13:56):
That's a great question.
I.
I think I developed the abilityto help people with food
allergies deal with anxiety fortwofold.
Number one, I was a kid, teenand now an adult that has
anxiety surrounding my foodallergies.
But number two, I'm a schoolpsychologist, and with that
comes a lot of training inmental health and specifically
(14:17):
helping people manage theiranxiety, specifically in my
case.
Kids and teens.
But with that, I was able to usemy knowledge of that and serve
my role at FAACT as the directorof behavioral health to
encapsulate kind of both thethings, twofold, allergies and
anxiety management, but learningto manage my own anxieties.
Certainly, it's one thing whenyou.
(14:40):
Professionally know it and havethe knowledge from schooling and
education.
Another thing for actuallyhelping people and see the
results, but then I think itgoes a step further because I've
lived it and I can see thehelpful results.
So when it comes to managingfood allergy related anxiety, I
think that there's.
Two parts that are important totalk about.
(15:00):
Number one, the person that'sdealing with the anxiety.
But number two, if we're talkingabout a kid and teen, how the
parent is reacting to thatanxiety.
I share this often.
And so I can never share thesepodcasts with my parents.
My parents are wonderful, but mymom is incredibly anxious about
many things.
So it didn't help when she hadchildren that Had food allergies
(15:21):
that just made her alreadyexisting anxiety worse.
So a lot of my allergicreactions as a child, I can just
remember a lot of anxiety frommy mom, and that's really what I
remember, which made me anxiousmaybe in times I didn't even
have to be, or maybe in timeswhere I could have used an
anxiety management skill or acoping skill as we call it, to
get through that a little bitbetter.
(15:43):
We just didn't have that, and mymom didn't have that, and I
don't blame her for it at thattime.
It wasn't a conversation thatwas really talked about, which
is why I think it's great, youknow, that you're, you're doing
what you're doing with Don'tFeed the Fear, and we're doing
what we're doing over thebehavioral health resource
center at FAACT, and we'remaking these conversations.
A part of the norm.
We're making even in some cases,it a part of treatment plans,
(16:06):
which I think is great becauseyou manage your food allergies
and you manage anxiety.
Both things are managed andoftentimes they have to be
managed simultaneously.
So for myself and for what Itell others is.
Get a coping skill and it'sgonna be different for everyone.
So my coping skill that worksbest for me is taking a walk or
(16:27):
taking deep breaths.
That's not the same for myhusband.
He would wanna do a task or hemight wanna get outta the house
but not take a walk or somethinglike that when it comes for
kids.
So they might not have the sameone as you.
You might like to color draw,read a book, and your child
might.
Wanna go do some jumping jacksor they might wanna talk about
(16:49):
it, although that's not ascommon of a coping scope for
children that much.
But most importantly, for kidsthat are aged, you know.
One, I mean less than one.
You know as well to eight, theyneed something called
co-regulation, and that's whereyou do the coping skill with
them.
And I feel like that's a missinglink a lot of the times because
we'll say calm down or take abreath.
(17:10):
Deep breath.
But kids, up until age eight.
Or before age eight, just don'thave that ability.
So they need someone to do itwith you.
Watch me, I'm gonna take a deepbreath.
Will you do it with me?
Or remind me how old you are.
You're five, and you hold upyour hand and you see five
candles and you say, can youblow out these candles?
And you make it a little game.
(17:30):
And oh, they only got twocandles, and now they have all
the candles.
And you just took two reallygreat breaths.
Even as adults, sometimes weprefer co-regulation.
Over using a regulatory copingskill for ourselves.
Sometimes when I'm really upset,I mean, we don't get upset,
right?
I'll ask for a big hug from myhusband, and that's a squeeze.
That's regulation.
(17:51):
Or sometimes I'll call my sisterand I'll walk and talk because I
do wanna talk to someone.
I wanna get my body moving, butI don't wanna be just in my head
with my thoughts.
That's co-regulation.
So if we still use co-regulationas an adult.
All the more important that weneed to make sure that we're
providing that opportunity forco-regulation for our children
(18:11):
for a parent to be a reallyeffective regulator, they need
to be able to regulatethemselves.
So the best thing to do when achild's dysregulated, when a
child's upset, when a child'shaving anxiety, whether that's
related to food allergy anxietyor not, a connected adult that
is connected to their ownemotion and not just kind of
falling into the waves of theirchild's emotion, my child is
(18:32):
anxious.
I'm anxious.
There's something really badhappening.
Regulating yourself first.
So you can effectivelyco-regulate is really important,
and that means that the childthe parent, the caregiver to
that child, has these copingskills well developed as well.
And they can be different thanthe style in which you're
co-regulating with your child.
If you know what your childlikes on facts behavioral
(18:54):
Resource Center, we have a fun.
Kid friendly, A to Z copingskill checklist.
So if you don't know what helpsyour child regulate, you could
do a fun adventure as a family.
Try a different coping skillevery day, and X out the ones
that you don't like, and circlethe ones you do because
sometimes we wanna fill a hugetoolbox with a lot of skills
when really you only need one ortwo, maybe three, that work
(19:17):
consistently and that you canhelp your child master and that
you can master for yourself.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (19:23):
What you're explaining is so helpful
because parents think they, haveto make my child do this skill,
but that is not the point whenthey're this young.
It's literally they can only becalm and regulated.
If we are calm and regulated,our bodies are connected.
So what you're describing is, isdoing the thing.
It is calming yourself down andthen with you, not you must do
(19:46):
this skill.
I'm still over here freakingout, but I'm gonna make you
breathe and everything's gonnabe
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (19:50):
Yes.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (19:51):
go in hand.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S. (19:52):
That's so important to point out.
And if you are the kind ofparent, which a lot of our food
allergy parents are, I justdisclosed, so is my mom.
So it's okay.
There's no judgment here.
But if you are the parent,that's also gonna be anxious
too, coming down, using thatco-regulation for yourself.
So important, but also.
Kids are masters at sensing outof someone is disingenuous.
(20:14):
So if you say, you know, I'm notworried as you're shaking, or
you know, you're crying andyou're saying, no, no, I'm not
scared.
Don't, don't worry, like you'regonna be fine, but you know,
you're crying or something likethat, that's gonna be scary to a
kid.
And they're gonna say, oh no,no.
It's not fine, something iswrong.
You know you're crying.
So the best thing to do is torecognize your feeling,
(20:35):
recognize your child's feelingwithout reinforcing it.
So I say recognize, don'treinforce.
You're feeling really scaredabout trying a new restaurant.
I'm feeling a little bit worriedof you trying a new restaurant
too.
But we're gonna do X, Y, Z thingto make sure you're safe and I'm
gonna be there with you.
And so you can admit to beingworried about something and
recognize in your child ratherthan saying.
(20:57):
You don't have to be worriedwe're gonna do this.
No, they're probably going to beworried.
And to a certain extent thatworry is adaptive.
It's serving as a protectivefeature for them so that you
know they can prevent somethingbad happening.
It's just when it kind of goes alittle too far that we start
having problems to manage, butrecognizing that feeling, I'm
(21:17):
worried about this, you'reworried about this, or anxious
or scared, or whatever, feelingyou wanna substitute,
overwhelmed, stressed, recognizeit, and then say what you're
going to do, rather thanreinforcing that it's the
correct feeling, you're gonnarecognize that it is the feeling
and what you're gonna do aboutit.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (21:35):
Right, right.
Because any adult understands,like any of us with our partner
or our spouse, if I said, I'manxious and I was bothered by
something and they said, well,you shouldn't be, or, no, you're
not, you're fine..
It's so invalidating, but we dostuff like that to kids all the
time.
Right.
I, say this to my audience allthe time, I experience anxiety
(21:57):
too still, even though my son isdoing really well.
And even though we're inmaintenance for treatments,
anxiety just is going to comeand go, just like any other
feelings, but.
I think as food allergy parents,especially food allergy moms, we
know how bad it feels whensomeone says, well, stop being
so anxious.
You're making your kid anxious,but just telling me not to
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S (22:15):
Mm-hmm.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (22:16):
doesn't make me not anxious.
The same goes for our kids,right?
We have to teach them and showthem and guide them through how
to do it.
Like you said, we have toacknowledge it and say that it's
valid and, and work on it to saythe steps that we're doing to
take care of it, not just pushit aside or try to
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (22:32):
Yes.
And to be honest about it, youknow, I do get worried when you
go out with your friends, butI'm proud that you use the
skills that we've gone overtogether, you know?
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (22:42):
That's how they learn it, right?
By seeing us do it.
Emery Brown, M.A., (22:44):
Absolutely.
That modeling is, is really key.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (22:48):
I would love it if you would tell us
more There's so many resourcesthat you've created Please tell
the audience what else they willfind if they go and look there.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (22:55):
Yeah, so absolutely.
So if you head over to FAACT'swebsite, which is the Food
Allergy and Anaphylaxisconnection team, you'll see a
whole behavioral health resourcecenter that has different
informational just informationalsheets, as well as activities
that have to do with navigatinga new diagnosis, anxiety,
depression, eating disorders,resilience.
Coping skills, self care, thewhole gamut of anything that
(23:18):
deals with mental wellnessthat's gonna be in there.
The A to Z checklist that Italked to you about that's in
there as well as differentsheets for families, kids,
teens, adults with foodallergies and caretakers.
So it's across the lifespan thatthese resources address, because
kids with food allergies becomesteens with food allergies who
(23:39):
often become adults with foodallergies.
And as I mentioned a little bitearlier, the caretaker or the
parent can't be left out of thisequation either because a lot of
the time we do really focus on.
Treatment management for thechild, anxiety management for
the child, without talking aboutthose same things, for whoever
is caretaking for that child,anxiety management for them,
(24:01):
coping skills for them, selfcare for them and all of these
things.
So we're addressing the wholelifespan.
Anybody that.
Could need those things, thosethings are on there for them as
well as for other comorbidconditions.
So we do talk a lot aboutanxiety and food allergies, but
it's also not uncommon to sufferfrom depression or be at a
(24:21):
higher risk for an eatingdisorder when it comes to having
a food allergy.
And I think those are importanttopics to talk about and address
and for parents to be aware of,to look for warning signs
Children that have anxiety areat a higher risk for depression
when they're in a teen and anadult.
So even if that's not a concernnow, if you're seeing anxiety,
it could be a concern later.
(24:42):
And that's not said to scareanybody, but it's said to,
that's why we develop copingskills.
That's why we develop self-careand put protective factors in
place like a community ortherapy or, parents that
parents, you know, are open andtalking about feelings.
All these things, good friendsthat understand your food
allergies, all these serve asprotective factors that can be
preventative from any of thatever happening.
(25:05):
And then lastly, which I do loveto talk about, is there's an
area about resilience.
And resilience is just a big,fancy word for the ability to
bounce back in the face ofadversity.
And we know as parents,caregivers, kids, adults,
whoever's watching the podcasttoday professionals that.
Deal with food allergies.
We need resilience because hardthings do happen and when we
(25:28):
have the right things in place,hopefully they don't, but the
hard things and are not alwaysas serious as an anaphylactic
reaction.
Sometimes the hard things areyour friend's birthday party
taking place at a sushirestaurant and you have a fish
or shellfish allergy.
Sometimes the hard things is,you know, the work party
ordering pizza and.
(25:49):
You know, they forgot you.
They forgot about you, and youhave a dairy allergy, right?
Like myself or whatever it maybe.
And you need resilience to beable to bounce back from that
and keep going and it not, youknow.
Drag you down.
So there's information onresilience, but there's also a
downloadable kit that is meantfor families to complete
together.
You could print it, it comeswith coloring pages and activity
(26:12):
sheets, and there'saffirmations, which is just
positive things that you cansay.
So we like to change negativeself-talk to positive self-talk,
so, you know.
Thinking something after, youknow, a birthday party doesn't
have a cake, that you can have anegative thought pattern.
Might be, my friends don'treally care about me.
Well, we know that that's anextreme and that would be a
(26:33):
thinking trap.
And that's, you know, probablynot the reaction that's gonna be
helpful.
But it affirmation could be, Ihave really good friends or.
I have a family that cares aboutme, or I can have a safe snack
later.
So whatever it might be.
So there's affirmations that youcan color and cut out, hang them
up on your fridge or in thebathroom mirror.
(26:53):
You wanna practice those withyour children.
There's also worksheets of withwhat if scenarios.
What if you couldn't have thesnack that was brought to
school?
What would you, what would youdo?
And you're doing this as afamily.
So then, you know, mom mightsay, I would do this.
Dad might say I would do this.
Sister might say, I would dothis.
And you talk about it as afamily.
All these skills help buildresilience.
Right.
In some ways I wish I didn'thave food allergies because life
(27:17):
would be easier.
I mean, I could go torestaurants without worry.
I could take something off theshelf without worry.
But, or, and.
I wouldn't have met the peoplethat I have.
I wouldn't have met you.
Right.
We wouldn't have got connectedto do this podcast today.
I have lifelong friends, mycollege roommate and friend.
I attended her wedding a coupleweeks ago.
(27:39):
She and I met at a teen, apreteen conference when we were
11.
We would've never met, if ithadn't been for food allergies.
My husband and I travel withanother girl that I met at Camp
Tag.
We were both counselors.
So through these differentstages of life, so many key
people to me I wouldn't have metif I didn't have food allergies.
So we need that resiliencebecause the fact, the unchanging
(28:02):
fact, unless we outgrow our foodallergies, is we do have food
allergies.
So what is the good that we canfind from that?
And there is a lot of good to befound.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (28:10):
There are so many things in what you
just said that I wanna touch on.
You caught.
Yourself, you said, but, andthen you said, and you changed
it to and because that and makessuch a big difference, right?
The language you use is soimportant.
I can feel the disappointmentand the sadness about all these
things and recognize and holdspace
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (28:26):
Hmm.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (28:26):
of those.
Thank you for giving an exampleof how that's true because you
are holding space for all ofthose things.
That's how life is, right?
This big full experience withthe hard parts and the ability
to recognize the growth and thebenefits that are.
Connected to it.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (28:41):
Yes.
And I think even teaching, I'msure you talk to your clients
about it and I use this with mystudents as well, but I don't
get the same opportunity you doto work so much every day with
clients with food allergies.
But that dialectic of putting inthat and can be very powerful
because not only do we dismissothers with the butt, but we
dismiss ourselves.
And I think, you know, I didstruggle for a while of like.
(29:04):
Can I feel like I don't want myfood allergies and feel glad
that I have them for the certainextents of opportunities that
come along have come along,would I change it?
You know?
And those are, those are hard.
And I, I am grateful for thepeople that being a part of the
food allergy community hasbrought into my life.
And, you know, I do hope thatthere's a day when food
(29:27):
allergies aren't as prevalentor, you know, can be managed in
a different way too.
And I do.
Put in that and, and I think alot of your listeners would
start to kind of feel the reliefand feel better to allow
themselves the space to put inan, and I'm worried about my
child, and I believe that theycan grow up to be an
independent, successful adultthat manages their anxiety and
(29:49):
their food allergies well.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (29:52):
Right.
And it just takes time to
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S (29:53):
Mm-hmm.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (29:53):
I'm not saying, and I know you're not
saying the day your child'sdiagnosed, you
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., N (29:57):
No, no, no.
Of course not.
Yes.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (30:00):
take time.
But there's, there's hope.
It, it grows.
You grow.
Around your challenge, just likeeverybody else and their
challenges that they have.
There's one more piece of whatyou said that I don't wanna lose
that I think is so importantthat you were emphasizing doing
and practicing the skills beforethey are needed.
We have to practice.
Stuff before the moment arriveswhere we need it.
(30:21):
Because once we're already in adysregulated state, we're not
gonna be able to access it.
Remember it.
It's not a safety signal to ourbodies.
So I just, I think you arehitting that point home.
And I wanted to too.
We, we just have to practicejust like we would practice any
other skill, right.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., NC (30:37):
So well said.
And that's exactly right.
And I would suggest making it apart of your routine in a fun
way.
And this is from my ownexperience, and also working
with some teens with foodallergies as over the years as
part of my role with FAACT, wecan get a certain resistance
from children and teens when itcomes to, Hey, we need to talk
about this.
Like, let's sit down.
(30:58):
Blah, blah.
And it's, it's kind of, it'sforced, it's uncomfortable at
times.
It could be a little bit awkwardand the parent's gonna be
dismissed.
The child might not remember it.
But if you can make it routineand have it be for, if you have
multiple children and some havefood allergies and some not.
Have it be a family practicerather than just a practice
specifically for your foodallergic child as well.
(31:20):
Because, let's face it, everyoneneeds coping skills.
It's just certainly gonna helpin specific situations for
people with food allergies andhave it be a part of your
routine.
Maybe before you have dinner,you say an affirmation or maybe
after dinner every night orevery other night or something
once a week, if that works foryour schedule.
You take a walk or when you wakeup before you send your kids out
(31:43):
the door to the bus, everybodytakes a deep breath, kind of
like an exit ticket from thehouse.
You breathe out when you leave,you breathe in when you come
back.
And it doesn't have to be okay,this is what you would do if you
had a reaction, or this is whatwe would do if you, you know
needed to go to the restaurantor your waiter brought the wrong
food, but you didn't need it.
You know, you wouldn't do it inthat high pressured scenario.
(32:04):
You would have it be a part ofpractice and.
You would have them use it too,not only in those, we call them
like non escalated times, or,you know, the regulated times or
when a child's calm, whateveryou wanna refer to it as.
You can also use it in, inmoments that.
Have everyday anxiety.
Your child has a project comingup, they're nervous for a math
(32:26):
test.
You know, you wanna show them,you said this earlier, anxiety
is a feeling that comes and goeslike any other feeling.
So anxiety is gonna come and goas it relates to food.
Allergies and anxiety is gonnacome and go as it relates to
daily things, or not even daily,but just things that hope happen
over time.
You know, anxiety on a math testeventually.
Becomes anxiety for a bigmeeting, right?
(32:47):
And anxiety for a big meetingmight eventually come into
anxiety about, you know, whichnew car should I buy that, you
know, or, or, you know, marriageor house or having a child,
whatever it might be, right?
Through the stages of life, thethings that make us anxious come
and go.
Things that make us happy, comeand go, or the things that we
get jealous of, come and go.
(33:08):
All these things are just astate, and I love how you said
that earlier.
And the same is true foranxiety.
So if we can also for ourchildren with food allergies,
not just focus on.
That's the only time topractice.
Or if we're doing scenarios,which I think is a great thing
to do, role play.
If you have little kidsincorporate puppets or they're
stuffed animals, that's a greatthing.
(33:29):
Don't just do food allergyrelated examples.
Certainly do them, but alsoinclude other examples so that
they see, oh, this isn't just anemotion that I feel as it
relates to my food allergies.
I was anxious before this testand it went well.
I can be anxious before a foodchallenge and it go well, right?
Or these different things likethat.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (33:46):
Thank you so much for explaining that
it's so important and it's justa life skill we need, like you
said, everybody needs it.
No reason to single out our foodallergy kiddos anymore than they
already get
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S. (33:55):
That's true.
Yes.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (33:56):
at them.
So I would love for you to talka little bit more about your
role as a school psychologist.
I think, you know, as you said,it's not specific to food
allergies, but I don't think alot of people really know what a
school psychologist is unlessthey have a kid who's
specifically been involved withcertain services at school.
Emery Brown, M.A., (34:14):
Absolutely.
So my tagline for how I explainwhat a school psychologist is,
is we help children emotionally,behaviorally, academically, and
socially.
So across the gamut, you know,school psychologists.
Wear many hats.
A main role that you might thinkof when it comes to a school
psychologist is they also serveas case managers for children
with individualized educationplans or IEPs.
(34:35):
So if you have a specialeducation child, that might be a
term that you're familiar withcase manager's job, or to ensure
the effective implementation ofthat IEP, but also school
psychologists are mental healthprofessionals, so we provide.
Individual counseling.
We provide group counseling,class lessons.
Some school psychologists arealso involved with 5 0 4, which
(34:56):
many food allergy parents mightbe familiar with.
If your child has a 5 0 4 planfor food allergies.
In my district, I'm not the 5 04 coordinator, but I do often
sit on 5 0 4 meetings because Isometimes counsel students that
have a 5 0 4 plan.
So that's an important part.
Of things.
I started my career as atraditional school psychologist,
but I became my district'scomprehensive mental health
(35:19):
specialist.
So now I exclusively do mentalhealth in my district because
I'm a school-based registeredplay therapist as well.
And play is obviously a powerfullearning tool, but it's also a
powerful healing tool, which iswhy I have essentially changed
over.
The way that I do counselingwithin the school space to that.
And my credentialing as a schoolpsychologist allowed me to take
(35:40):
on this role at as fact, at factas the director of behavioral
health.
So, you know, many years ago Iwould speak at fact, you know,
just as a person with foodallergies.
And that's why I love thelifespan continuum because.
I, I became, was a kid, became ateen, became a young adult,
became a professional, and now Iget to work in, in a space that
(36:01):
I have professional knowledgeabout and personal knowledge
about.
So it's incredibly fulfilling tome.
But back to the role of a schoolpsychologist you know, I get to
actually be hands-on.
Boots on the ground givingmental health services through
specifically play therapy.
Almost a hundred percent at mydistrict.
So while a school psychologistwears many hats, I now kind of
(36:21):
have stuck to one.
Because mental health reallyjust became a passion out of all
those different things.
So I do do intelligence testingand academic testing.
I work with the specialeducation population.
I do gifted testing, all thesedifferent things, but my main
wheelhouse now is mental healthservices through the vesicle of
play therapy and San Tray forsome older children as well.
(36:45):
And it is incredibly fulfillingwork and I, that's why I said
earlier that it's not just thatI've lived these things, which I
think is important, but I'veseen strategies work.
The strategies that we'retalking about the strategies
that you talk about a lot,Amanda, the strategies that are
on facts website.
I've seen them work.
I've seen them work for kidswith food allergies.
I've seen them work without.
(37:06):
So I love being a schoolpsychologist and I do think that
a lot of kids, teens out therewho grow up to be people that
like helping people becausepeople have helped them.
And you know, I just feel likepeople with food allergies have
that kindhearted helping nature.
School psychology is a greatcareer option for yeah, we need,
we have a shortage of schoolpsychologists.
We could definitely use moreyoung people going into the
(37:28):
profession.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (37:29):
Yeah, to parents if you're trying to
encourage your kids what fieldsto go into.
Like all the schoolpsychologists are retiring now,
so we need them.
And so your position sounds likea such a dream job though.
I, I, a lot of districts don'thave a school psych in that role
specifically, so that's amazingfor you.
It sounds great.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (37:47):
Yes.
So actually in New Jersey,they're, they're pushing for
more mental health.
But this role is unique to mydistrict and I'm hopeful that
more school psychologists willget this opportunity and be
recognized for the advancedmental health training that they
have.
New Jersey released a guide tomulti-tiered approach for mental
health within the schools.
So some districts are trying tobe able to fulfill that by
(38:10):
adding more mental healthprofessionals in the school
which means that more.
More kids are gonna get accessto things they need.
And that it's gonna go for kidsthat have food at Archie's as
well, because we know thatschool can be an environment and
setting where, you know, theparent's not there.
So the parent might feel anxiousand the child doesn't have as
much control because you, I meanthat's, that's a whole nother
conversation about controlwithin, you know, the school
(38:32):
setting.
But food is involved in theschool setting, so it can be a
place for where food allergicchildren have more anxiety.
So when there's mental healthproviders in the space that are
equipped to help obviously in mycase, I, you know, am equipped
specifically for food allergiesas well.
But, you know, I obviously thinkthere's a realm for professional
development for schoolprofessionals, for handling
(38:54):
anxiety when it comes when as itrelates to food allergies.
But it can be an anxietyprovoking space.
So I am definitely supportive ofmore mental health professionals
knowing about food allergies andbeing in the schools to help
children with anxiety.
Amanda Whitehouse, (39:09):
Absolutely.
That's gotta be so helpful.
The time when this episode isgoing to be out is the time of
year where, okay, we've, we'vegotten into school, we're doing
the routine, and now is when theconcerns start to arise, right?
Referrals start coming in.
Certainly it won't be everyone,but for parents who might either
have their own concerns abouttheir kids wondering if they
need more evaluation for anytype of a concern in the
(39:32):
classroom, or if someone at theschool has approached you and
said.
have this concern with yourchild and here's what we wanna
do.
Could you just tell them alittle bit about that process to
make it a little less foreignand scary to parents
Emery Brown, M.A., (39:45):
Absolutely.
I think it's scary because it'sjust another unknown, right?
And food allergy parents mightbe used to having to deal with
unknowns and unpredictabilityand things coming up.
But I also know when, let's justsay you're worried about your
child's mental health, or you'reworried about their academic
performance, or someone bringsthat worry to you, that's just
another unexpected that can.
You know, start the spiral of,okay, now there's just another
(40:07):
thing on my plate.
So, number one, utilize yourcoping skills.
That's a great opportunity touse it, but just like we
combated mental health stigmafor so many years, there's, you
know, academic stigma, f.
For learning disabilities orneeding IEPs.
That still exists, some placesthat stigma, but I look at it as
(40:27):
a way to get the help that yourchild needs.
Specifically.
It's individualized.
It's if you're, if we're talkingabout an IEP, obviously 5 0 4 is
different, so we're talking,does your child need
accommodations or modificationswithin the school?
If you have concerns, the bestthing to do would be to reach
out to your child's teacherfirst, because the teacher might
say, well.
You know, we haven't discussedX, Y, Z yet, or you know,
(40:50):
they're a little bit behindright now, but let's wait till
after the next test to kind ofsee if we need to do something.
But then you would go to yourchild study team.
If you're, if you're concerned,there's no harm in reaching out.
There's a lot of scary discourseonline about, you know, you
gotta come prepared to fight oryou know, this or that.
And unfortunately, I know thatthere are experiences where
parents have had to do that.
(41:11):
And that makes me sad as aperson on the child study team
because I know how my districtand our team operates and our
only goal is to help the childand in turn, help the family.
Right.
And that's, I.
Would hope to think is the heartof most school professionals
that are sitting on a childstudy team.
So go, hopefully you can go inwith that and not feel scared to
just reach out and ask aquestion.
(41:32):
They'll hold a meeting.
State to state, there'sdifferent regulations of how
quickly you have to have thatmeeting or who has to be there.
So I won't speak to that.
But they will have to honor thatand hold a meeting and discuss.
They'll present you withdifferent things.
Oh, this is your child'sbenchmarking.
Your child is in X, Y, Zpercentile.
Which means, you know, if yourchild's in the.
10th percentile.
(41:52):
If you lined up a hundred kidsthat child's age, they would
only do better than 10 of them.
So you know, that's not thatgreat.
Or if your child's in the 83rdpercentile in that same a
hundred kid lineup, they'd dobetter than 83 of them.
So that's.
Your child's above average,right?
With 50 being in the average.
So hopefully your child studyteam would be explaining these
different things, but I wouldsay don't be afraid to reach
(42:13):
out.
Your 5 0 4 coordinator would bewho you would reach out to if
you don't already have a 5 0 4for food allergies, or if you
do, if your child does haveanother co-occurring condition
like a DHD or anxiety or anotherhealth condition.
I think that it's important tohave those things documented so
that you can legally ensure thatyour child's getting the support
that they need.
(42:34):
Sometimes, I'm just gonna usethe example of A DHD.
Sometimes your child would needan IEP because they're
presenting as a need forspecially designed instruction.
Sometimes they wouldn't,sometimes they just need
different accommodations, likesitting closer to the teacher
or, someone monitoring theirorganization or having a wobble
seat, right?
These aren't, these aren'tmodifications or changes to the
(42:54):
way something's being presented.
They're just little adjustmentsthat's gonna help your child
succeed.
So don't be afraid to reach outto support.
Don't be afraid to go to yourchild's teacher.
I know that it can be scary andthat you might just feel like
it's another thing piling on,but the people at school really
wanna help you and obviously youreally wanna help your child.
So the supports exist.
(43:15):
In schools for a reason, and thesystems exist in schools for a
reason and there's gonna bepeople there that are gonna
wanna walk you through thosesystems so that your child can
get what they need.
Amanda Whitehouse, (43:25):
Definitely.
Just to clarify What are someother terms?
Child study team The committeeon special Education.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S (43:30):
There's so many different acronyms when
it comes to special educationrelated services, counseling,
whatever it may be.
So.
You're gonna wanna look forsomething in the Student
Services department.
It could be special educationteam, could be INRS, which is
Intervention and referralservices.
It could be referred to as that5 0 4 is definitely gonna be
(43:51):
universal, so there's definitelygonna be a 5 0 4 director, co,
or coordinator.
Intake coordinator, plugwhatever you want to after that.
But I would always recommendgoing to the teacher first
because the teacher's gonna havethe most holistic view of your
child and know your child best,and your, the teacher's gonna
for sure be on your team.
So go to them first.
And if there is a differentacronym or a different team,
(44:13):
some sub states well actuallyall states, like if you're
looking at.
Some sort of specific learningdisability of some kind.
You have to try differentinterventions first before you
would ever go to things.
And that's true even for otherconditions like anxiety, A DHD,
you're gonna wanna actually tryinterventions.
So a lot of places might havesome sort of intervention team
and they call that lots ofdifferent things.
(44:34):
So go to your teacher first andthey're gonna point you in the
right direction if you're askingthe right question.
So if your right questions are,I'm looking for help for my
child for X, y, Z thing, they'regonna point you in the right
direction for sure.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (44:47):
Great point.
That's your touch point for themost part, because they know
your child better than anyoneelse in the school.
Right.
Thank you for clarifying.
It's overwhelming.
I feel like we could do a wholemonth's worth of.
Episodes on that
Emery Brown, M.A., (44:57):
Absolutely.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (44:58):
Yeah, thank you for sharing that.
We skipped over talking aboutCamp Tag, that FAACT holds, and
I would love to make sure we geta little bit in on that and
maybe even next year we can do amore in depth chat.
But you're, you are a formercamper and counselor and
obviously now with theorganization, I can't think of
anyone better than you to telleverybody what Camp Tag is.
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (45:18):
Thank you and absolutely I think that
everyone should know about Canttag if you have a child with
food allergies.
I definitely consider sendingyour child to Camp tag.
There's also scholarships forCamp Tag as well.
So it's certainly, definitelyaccessible and is in several
locations across the UnitedStates.
Camp TAG stands for the AllergyGang and it services kids from
(45:40):
age four to 13.
So it's a wide age range, butkids that are 14 and beyond are
not left behind because that'sthe time that they can be
counselors.
So actually the first year thatcamp Tag.
Was, you know.
In action.
I was actually 14, so I startedas a counselor.
I was just shy by a year to beable to be a camper, and I still
(46:02):
am a little bit upset that Inever got the true chance to be
a camper.
But the way that we run the teencounselors is they, they lead a
group of kids in that four to 13age group.
You get assigned an age groupand that is gonna be your
counseling group.
For the week.
But the teens still get toparticipate in the activities as
much as possible.
So really when you're a teen,you still are getting a camp
(46:25):
experience as well, because wehave people that are on staff
and adults that are counselorswe call them leaders that help
for the week as well.
This upcoming year.
We're gonna be in Nashville andOhio again.
It's a powerful time for notonly kids with food allergies,
but their siblings as well.
So you can be a camper or acounselor if you are a.
(46:45):
Someone that has a sibling withfood allergies as well.
It's a time for the wholefamily, so we're not gonna leave
anybody out.
If you are a part of a householdthat's managing food allergies,
you're definitely welcome to bethere.
But it's a camp where.
You can have fun just like anyother camp, we say 95% fun, 5%
education.
So from zip lining to playinggaga to arts and crafts, this is
(47:08):
a true camp.
But that 5% of education issomething so unique to Camp Tag
that you're not gonna be able toget anywhere else.
The teen counselors lead this.
We talk about bullying, we talkabout.
Anxiety.
We talk about managing your foodallergies, recognizing the signs
and symptoms of anaphylaxis, andwe know that parents are talking
about this in their home, butit's a whole nother thing to
(47:29):
talk about it with kids your ageand then see someone older than
you who's effectively managing.
Those allergies, it's reallypowerful.
For some of our kids it's, youknow, some of the only times
that they're around people withmultiple food allergies like
them.
You can have one allergy, youcan have multiple again to be
part of the camp.
But for kids that are managingmultiple food allergies.
(47:49):
It's some of the first time thatthey're, they're sitting with a
whole room of all people thatare going through something the
same as them.
Our snacks are free of the topnine major allergens.
Last year our safe snack wassponsored by Red Plate Foods.
And.
We are in a room where everyoneis eating the same snack.
That's unheard of for a kid or ateen with food allergies, right?
(48:10):
Even those moments are just sospecial and so unique to the
experience.
So if you're listening and youhave a kid or teen that's in
that four to 13 age range, or 14to 18 for a counselor,
definitely look at our website.
Stay tuned for upcoming datesfor 2026.
Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (48:26):
Yes, and make plans now because
everybody's summers are busy,but this is the have that on
your radar I love that aspect ofthis because everyone in the
family is impacted by foodallergies, not just.
The individual who has them.
So what an amazing program.
You have created so many greatresources, Emery.
I appreciate all of the work andeverything you're putting out
there for everybody.
I will put links to everythingin the show notes so that it's
(48:48):
easy for people to find
Emery Brown, M.A., Ed.S., (48:49):
Well, thank you so much.
I appreciate what you're doingtoo.
I mean, I love your podcast andthank you so much for having me
on.
As we wrap up, here are threeaction steps that you can take
to follow up on today'sconversation with Emery.
Number one, follow FAACT If youdo not already, their website is
food allergy awareness.org.
You'll find them if you searchby name on Facebook and on
Instagram they're at FAACT News.
(49:09):
FAACT is spelled with two a'snumber two, Once you've made
sure that you're following them,so that you don't miss anything,
go to their website and click onthe heading Behavioral Health.
In this section, you'll see whatI'm talking about.
This amazing behavioral healthresource center that Emery has
created, and number three, ifyou're not already connected
with me on social media, you canfind me by searching for Amanda
(49:30):
Whitehouse, the food allergypsychologist on Facebook or on
my Instagram.
@thefoodallergypsychologist,i'll be sharing lots of
highlights and some of myfavorite content from the FAACT
Allergy Summit If you weren'table to join us there, you can
check out what you've missed andstart thinking about whether
you'd like to plan ahead andjoin us next year.
in what is really an inspiringand a validating weekend with
(49:51):
community.
As always, thank you so much forlistening.
I hope you're finding the showhelpful, and if you are, I would
appreciate a rating or a reviewand if you would share the
episode with anyone you thinkwould enjoy listening too the
content of this podcast is forinformational and educational
purposes only, and is not asubstitute for professional
medical or mental health advice,diagnosis, or treatment.
(50:13):
If you have any questions aboutyour own medical experience or
mental health needs, pleaseconsult a professional.
I'm Dr.
Amanda Whitehouse.
Thanks for joining me.
And until we chat again,remember don't feed the fear.
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