A student stands over a patient, needle poised. They have a “perfect” prescription: a textbook combination of points harvested from a lecture slide on chronic lower back pain. But as the needle meets the skin, the student hesitates - the symptom of a quiet habit that has taken hold of our profession. We routinely say we “prescribe” points. It sounds efficient. It echoes the authority of biomedical culture and fits neatly into the insurance field. But vocabulary is never neutral; repeated long enough, it dictates behavior.
Dale G. Alexander, LMT, MA, PhD
Dr. Dale G. Alexander, named CE Provider of 2016 by the AFMTE, is the author of the Inside-Out Paradigm. He has operated a clinical massage therapy practice in Key West, Fla. since 1980. Please see Dale's website (www.dale-alexander.com) for upcoming workshops addressing this topic and others. You may also visit his columnist page to read past articles.