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The Food Allergy Brain
The Food Allergy Brain is a podcast hosted by Mia Silverman, the food allergy advocate behind Allergies with Mia. The show explores the intersection of food allergies, psychology, and human resilience. Through thoughtful conversations with leading psychologists, researchers, clinicians, and advocates, Mia brings emerging science, expert insight, and lived experience together in one space.
The mission of The Food Allergy Brain is to offer grounded, accessible education for individuals and families navigating life with food allergies, while addressing the emotional, cognitive, and social realities that often go unseen. By centering both research and real-world experience, the podcast aims to empower listeners, reduce stigma, and deepen public understanding of the mental and emotional dimensions of the food allergy journey.
The Food Allergy Brain
The Food Allergy Brain Episode 3: Dr. Elizabeth Hawkins, PhD
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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