May Contain Anxiety: Managing the Overwhelm of Parenting Children with Food Allergies

by Tamara Hubbard

A compassionate guide that teaches parents of children with food allergies how to mindfully manage anxiety and balance allergy safety with living fully.

Parenting a child with food allergies or other allergic conditions means navigating a labyrinth of emotions, decisions, and challenges. In May Contain Anxiety, licensed therapist and allergy parent Tamara Hubbard provides practical guidance tailored to the millions of parents managing this reality. Through her own parenting experiences, clinical expertise, and the voices of other allergy parents, Hubbard offers a compassionate resource to help you thrive amid the overwhelm.

This essential guide
• Insight into the emotional and psychological challenges of allergy parenting, including managing anxiety, dealing with uncertainty, and navigating developmental changes.
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) strategies for accepting discomfort, decreasing overwhelm, and mindfully parenting based on values, not anxiety.
• Evidence-based techniques to address fear-driven thoughts and to cultivate awareness to manage allergy-related anxiety effectively.
• Guidance on how to teach children age-appropriate skills to safely and responsibly manage their allergies.
• Tips for establishing shared parenting goals and clear communication between co-parents to create consistent and effective allergy management routines.
• Mindfulness-based exercises designed to support the whole family in navigating the emotional complexities of allergy management together.
• Step-by-step strategies for creating a personalized mindful allergy parenting plan.

Each chapter is enriched with relatable stories, real-world examples, and exercises designed to empower both you and your family. Whether you're grappling with an unexpected diagnosis or seeking balance after allergy-related challenges, this book will help you foster an encouraging, confident environment for your child and yourself.

248 pages, Paperback

Published September 30, 2025

About the author

Tamara Hubbard, MA, LCPC is a licensed clinical professional counselor and recognized expert in the mental health impact of parenting children with food allergies. She focuses on food allergy anxiety, caregiver stress, and the psychological demands of daily allergy management.

Tamara is the author of May Contain Anxiety: Managing the Overwhelm of Parenting Children with Food Allergies (Johns Hopkins University Press) and is regularly invited to speak by national organizations and major university food allergy programs, including FARE, AAAAI, ACAAI, CFAAR, and Stanford University’s food allergy program. She is also the founder of FoodAllergyCounselor.com.

You can find Tamara on most socials at @FoodAllergyCounselor and @TherapistTamara.

Reviews

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook and had to stop quite a few times to have a little cry. I felt very seen and not so alone. I am excited to get the hard copy from the library to really dive in to some of the strategies given in the book.

[Caylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would recommend this read to any parent that has a child with food allergies. Have compassion with yourself. We are parenting on hard mode. The author does a great job of laying out common mindsets food allergy parents fall into and practical ways to actually overcome them. If you can’t afford therapy from a certified food allergy therapist or don’t have the time, this book is the next best thing!

[Stephers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished May Contain Anxiety. I love this book!! I’m so grateful it out to help Food Allergy families. We’ve needed a book like this for a long time. It's written like you are sitting with a Therapist and friend helping you maneuver the stress and fear of food allergies. When my kids were first diagnosed with Food Allergies it was incredibly overwhelming and at the time there were not a lot of therapists that could help specific to Food Allergies and anxiety and the emotions you felt as a parent. Often we are overthinking or try to not enjoy life to the fullest because we are constantly trying to navigate food allergies and social situations. Tamara Hubbard is a therapist and also has a child with Food Allergies, she understands, the fears and overwhelmed feelings a parent may be experiencing. Her book is incredibly helpful coming up with mindful thoughts on Food Allergies and how to live life with Food Allergies. It's nice to feel like you are sitting with a friend discussing and receiving tools to help yourself and your child navigate the Food Allergy Anxiety. I wish this book was around when my kids were little; she has some really great tools. I feel like the exercise are helpful now with my teenagers having to advocate for themselves and having different fears for them. Thank you for a much NEEDED book in the Food Allergy Community!!

[Christie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the idea of this book - food allergies are so rarely focused on that I am just grateful that a book like this exists! As someone who struggles with anxiety (though for whatever reason, not much anxiety surrounding my son’s peanut allergy), I appreciated many concepts and tools presented in this book. However, I chose to listen to the audiobook and have to admit that the narrator drove me bonkers! It’s hard to explain, but it felt like she was trying too hard to speak in a casual, conversational manner. She also spoke fairly quietly (I had to crank up the volume, which may reflect audio quality of the book itself) and in soothing tones, which grated on my nerves. I know it’s a sensitive topic, but just tell me what I need to know! The book is also written in kind of formal/proper language, which annoyed me (eg “self administered epinephrine device”). In summary, I recommend reading rather than listening to this book if you are struggling with anxiety around your child’s food allergy diagnosis. I am fortunate to have had a fairly smooth, low stress journey since my son was diagnosed 10 years ago, so the book wasn’t really for me, but again, I appreciate that it exists!

[Sarah Fry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be required reading for all allergy parents. It’s encouraging yet understanding of the life we live as parents to kids with food allergies. The book offers real world scenarios and examples and helps you better frame your thoughts and anxiety into something useful or less obstructive. Highly recommend!

[Karianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know if I’m managing concerns better than I think I am or if my child isn’t in the right age range, but this book didn’t feel overly helpful. I don’t know that I left with extra tools after reading.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a food allergy parent, leader, and advocate I am impressed with this book. The fear, anxiety, and impact created by a life with food allergy and allergic disease cannot be overstated. It wakes you in the night as you run to check your child, causes sorrow and fear so deep after a random school drop off you are barely able to park the car before sobbing takes over your body and senses.

Fear can consume us but we each deserve balance. Tamara Hubbard’s book will help. She embraces the subject without judgment and gives a “roadmap” of pitfalls and plans for success. We need not shy away from the truth and impact of food allergy. Let’s cope in a healthy way, filling our lives with dynamic changes and room for growth so our children can become capable adults. I’ve had countless conversations with the allergic disease community this past decade. We each manage allergic disease in our own way but seek community and companionship to improve our lives. We adopt practices that fit and find confidence in what doesn’t. “May Contain Anxiety” is another beautiful example of one of our community stepping up to make a difference and I cannot recommend it enough!

[Heather W · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I can respect the message of this book and would classify it as a potential tool for generalized anxiety, I feel like it can bring up a lot of shame for individuals who care for people with true life-threatening allergies. At one point, the author criticizes a parent's need for 3 sources to confirm a new food is going to be safe for her child before she tries it.

While I can respect the idea of anxiety being a control method, potentially being a blockage to experiencing life, or it being something that leads to a child not being prepared for self-care, I feel like some of the things mentioned are not addressed appropriately. Many of the mentioned "behaviors" are a completely acceptable thing to do, per multiple food allergy awareness and protection groups.

Often, even things mentioned by allergists within the text are taken out of context and manipulated to fulfill the goal of the author. All it takes is one mistake, one time of seeing your own child close to death, and that third "unnecessary" resource that the text criticizes, that is referred to as over-preparedness, is completely justified.

[Debbie Taback · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a food allergy parent, I have worked in the food allergy community for more than a decade — first supporting pivotal research and then as a co-founder of the leading healthcare clinics providing food allergy care nationwide — and I had the privilege of reading an advance copy from the author. If I haven't lived the scenarios that Tamara Hubbard vividly describes myself, I've seen countless families bear the emotional weight of food allergies. While I've been pointing other families to Tamara's social media and website content for years, I'm excited to now be able to recommend her book as an up-to-date guide to dealing with the emotional aspects of food allergies. From the tools to steer away from the 'over avoidance trap' to helping parents address emotions around proactive treatment options or updated testing, families can benefit from this straightforward guide at all stages of the food allergy journey.

[Alice Hoyt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent read for any parent of a child with food allergies. Tamara brilliantly addresses the multifactorial challenges that face parents and how to approach these issues. I especially appreciate how she speaks to the reader, reminding us to show ourselves grace while encouragingly challenging us to engage with our emotions. This book takes something that can seem somewhat abstract and makes it tactical, providing realistic, helpful information to both seasoned and new food allergy parents. As a food allergist, a food allergy mom, and a food allergy wife, I appreciate this book so very much.

[Lynsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

😭🫶💔

I think a good read for anyone. Probably better for those new to food allergies or those who don’t understand them. I think the weight is heavy for those who have food allergies or are caring for someone with food allergies. And the more it’s discussed the more awareness there will be on those who have food allergies.

[Olga Kagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book and practical advice! Thank you for making this resource available to parents and caregivers.