Send us Fan Mail

Beneath our wishes, we often discover important clues about our values, needs, fears, hopes, griefs, and the parts of ourselves that may not receive enough attention in everyday life.

When was the last time you used your imagination, not to solve a problem or make a plan, but to better understand yourself?

This guided Magic Wand Exercise invites you to set aside what is practical, realistic, or possible for a moment and explore a simple question:
If you had a magic wand, what would you change?

This guided reflection is designed to help you:
• increase self-awareness
• identify underlying needs and values
• explore emotions with curiosity and compassion
• gain insight into challenges or decisions you may be facing
• reconnect with creativity and imagination

Many of us spend so much time focusing on what we think we should want or what we believe is possible that we rarely pause to explore what matters most. This exercise creates space to listen more closely to your own experience.

Whether you are navigating a life transition, making an important decision, processing a challenge, or simply seeking a deeper understanding of yourself, I hope this exercise offers insight, clarity, and self-compassion.

No special experience is needed, just curiosity, imagination, and a willingness to explore.

While this exercise appears in my workbook From Fear to Freedom about the social/emotional aspects of food allergy treatment decisions, it is not specific to food allergies and can be used by anyone navigating challenges, changes, or difficult feelings.

You can find the workbook this exercise is from here:
From Fear to Freedom: A Workbook for Navigating Allergy Immunotherapy
https://a.co/d/003saZ8p

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

Send us Fan Mail

What would your child change if they had a magic wand?

What would they wish for?

What would they want the adults in their life to understand?

The Magic Wand Exercise is one of my favorite tools for helping children express thoughts, feelings, worries, hopes, and needs that can sometimes be difficult to put into words directly. This gentle, guided exercise invites children to use their imaginations to explore a wish, giving adults valuable information about their needs and emotions.

Consider it a magic trick grown-ups can use to connect with a child who feels unheard, misunderstood, or distant. Parents, caregivers, and professionals may also find this a valuable way to better understand a child's perspective and create opportunities for meaningful connection.

While this exercise appears in my workbook From Fear to Freedom about the social/emotional aspects of food allergy treatment decisions, it is not specific to food allergies and can be used by any child navigating challenges, changes, or big feelings.

Adults are encouraged to listen and engage with the child with curiosity rather than a desire to fix or solve. Sometimes the greatest gift we can offer a child is the experience of being seen, heard, and understood.

This guided exercise is suitable for children, families, therapists, educators, and anyone supporting a young person.

You can find the workbook this exercise is from here:
From Fear to Freedom: A Workbook for Navigating Allergy Immunotherapy
https://a.co/d/003saZ8p

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

Send us Fan Mail

This month, the tables are turned.

In this special episode, psychologist, food allergy mom, and friend Dr. Elizabeth Hawkins joins the podcast as guest host to interview me about my new book, From Fear to Freedom: A Workbook for Navigating Allergy Immunotherapy.

We discuss the personal and professional experiences that inspired the book, the challenges families face when considering treatment options, and why food allergy treatment decisions are about so much more than medicine alone.

Our conversation explores the role of anxiety, uncertainty, values, family dynamics, and nervous system responses in treatment decision-making. We also discuss common misconceptions about food allergy treatments, what families often struggle with most, and why there is no single "right" path for every patient.

This episode offers an honest look at the questions, fears, hopes, and possibilities that shaped both the book and the conversations it hopes to support.

Available now:
Amazon: https://a.co/d/06s0n6ac

Bookshop.org (supports independent bookstores): https://bookshop.org/p/books/from-fear-to-freedom-a-workbook-for-navigating-allergy-immunotherapy-amanda-r-desio-whitehouse/7138d4f2d8127c9b?ean=9798995147404&next=t

Dr. Hawkins' Food Allergy Hive community:
https://www.fahive.com/about

Episode 70 (My family's treatment journey story:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2371319/episodes/18972752

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

Send us Fan Mail

We covered what OIT is last week.

This week? We’re talking about what it’s not.

Dr. Tom Chacko joins me to bust common myths about oral immunotherapy and answer the questions families ask in his clinic and on social media every day.

Dr. Chacko gives us his honest and direct perspective on:

-When not pursuing OIT could be a missed opportunity or even a disservice to a patient
-How other treatment options compare to OIT
-Why we should be mindful of where messages come from and who benefits

If allergy treatment options feel overwhelming right now, this episode will help you sort through the noise.

Episode links:
https://atlantaallergydoctor.com/
Instagram: @chacko_allergy
fastoit.org

Find my workbook From Fear To Freedom: A Guide to Navigating Allergy Immunotherapy here: https://a.co/d/068tbMjP

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

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, we begin a deep dive into specific food allergy immunotherapy treatments with a conversation about (OIT).

Dr. Doug Jones, one of the early pioneers of OIT in the United States, joins us to discuss how it looks in real clinical practice, and how to think about risk, predictability, and control in food allergy management.

As treatment options expand, patients and clinicians alike are navigating increased complexity. This conversation offers a grounded, evidence-based framework for thinking through OIT and shared decision-making. Dr. Jones acknowledges the psychological impact of allergy trauma and management, and helps us to understand the difference between accidental exposure risk and structured treatment risk

This episode is for anyone feeling overwhelmed by treatment decisions and wanting a clearer framework for thinking about OIT.

Episode Links:
-Follow Dr. Doug Jones
Instagram: @drdougjones
drdougjones.com
-fastoit.org

You can find my workbook From Fear To Freedom: A Guide to Navigating Allergy Immunotherapy here: https://a.co/d/003saZ8p

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

Send us Fan Mail

In this solo episode, I’m wrapping up an incredibly meaningful awareness month by taking you behind the scenes of the advocacy events, conferences, legislation, research, and community moments that left me feeling hopeful about the future of food allergies and chronic illness care.

From the Food Allergy Fund Summit in New York City, to advocacy days in Washington DC and Albany, this episode explores the intersection of mental health, medical advocacy, innovation, storytelling, and policy change across the food allergy, celiac, asthma, eosinophilic disease, and alpha-gal communities.

I also share personal reflections from traveling with loved ones, bringing my son to advocacy events, and witnessing children and teens become the next generation of leaders in this space, as well as the challenging emotions of acknowledging the tragic losses our advocacy honors.

This episode is both a recap and a reminder:
progress is happening because people continue to care, speak up, and advocate together.

Please follow and support the families and organizations below mentioned in this episode that are creating the changes we need:
https://www.elijahalavifoundation.org/
https://www.loveforgiovanni.org/
https://www.adinaact.com/
https://aafa.org/
https://allergyasthmanetwork.org/
https://www.addietellsall.com/
https://maycontainfilms.org/
https://allergyadvocatesny.org/
https://foodallergyfund.org/

And off-topic but a highlight of my month:
https://forward-space.com/

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

Send us Fan Mail

This week on the podcast, I’m joined by filmmaker and advocate Mandi Kearns of Just Like You Films to discuss the upcoming food allergy docudrama, May Contain: My Life.

This conversation explores not only the making of the film, but the emotional realities behind it: parenting through food allergies, navigating fear and resilience, sibling experiences, emergency situations, advocacy, and the ways these experiences continue to live in our nervous systems long after reactions are over.

One of the things I appreciated most about this film is that it does not portray individuals with food allergies as fragile or broken. Instead, it honestly captures the complexity of living with food allergies while still centering resilience, identity, connection, humor, and humanity.

This is an incredibly meaningful conversation for food allergy parents, adult patients, providers, advocates, and anyone wanting to better understand the lived experience of this community.

Learn more:

• Just Like You Films: https://justlikeyoufilms.org
• Film information and screenings: https://justlikeyoufilms.org
• JLY Films' Walk Beside You Promise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0UUxOzL84U
• AMC Showtimes: https://www.amctheatres.com/

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

Send us Fan Mail

In this special Allergy & Asthma Awareness Month episode, psychologist and food allergy advocate Dr. Amanda Whitehouse sits down with Kenny Mendez, President and CEO of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), for a conversation about advocacy, policy change, and the future of support for the allergy and asthma community.

Together, they discuss the emotional and practical realities families face while navigating food allergies and asthma, the importance of community-driven advocacy, and the work AAFA has done to support meaningful legislative change, including California’s groundbreaking restaurant allergen labeling law, The ADDE Law.

Kenny also shares insight into stock epinephrine laws, how advocacy efforts move through legislation, and why community involvement matters more than people often realize.

This episode offers both hope and practical perspective for parents, patients, clinicians, and advocates looking to better understand how systemic change happens.

Some of AAFA's Resources:
My Life With: https://aafa.org/asthma-allergy-research/our-research/my-life-with-food-allergy-report/
Ask The Allergist: https://community.aafa.org/db/ask-the-allergist
Recipes: https://kidswithfoodallergies.org/recipes-diet/
AAFANoon Chats Podcast: https://aafa.org/asthma-allergy-news/podcasts/

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