In this episode of The Food Allergy Brain, host Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia) sits down with Dr. Elizabeth Hawkins, a psychologist specializing in food allergy-related anxiety and trauma, to explore the emotional realities of living with life-threatening allergies.
Dr. Hawkins shares her journey from being trained as a child and adolescent psychologist to becoming a food allergy psychologist after her daughter was diagnosed with multiple severe allergies. Drawing from both clinical expertise and lived experience as an allergy mom, she discusses how food allergies reshape the way families understand safety, risk, and control.
Together, they unpack the difference between everyday anxiety and anxiety disorders, what happens emotionally after anaphylaxis, and why trying to eliminate anxiety altogether may not be the goal. Dr. Hawkins introduces acceptance-based approaches like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Internal Family Systems (IFS), explaining how building psychological flexibility and self-trust can help individuals and families live fully — even when risk is part of the picture.
They also explore grief, trauma, burnout, social isolation, misinformation in the allergy space, and the urgent need for integrated mental health support within allergy care. The episode concludes with a hopeful discussion about resilience, emerging treatments, and what a truly supportive emotional and medical system for food allergy families could look like.
Find Dr. Elizabeth Hawkins, PhD:
Website: www.dr-elizabeth.com
Food Allergy Hive: www.fahive.com
Instagram: @foodallergypsychologist
Find Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia):
Instagram & TikTok: @allergieswithmia
Website: allergieswithmia.com
