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.
Dava Michelson, MAc, MMQ, Dipl. Ac., LAc, LMT
Dava Michelson is a Classical Five-Element acupuncture physician licensed in the state of Florida. She holds master’s degrees in both acupuncture and medical qigong. She has private practices in Miami Beach and North Miami, and also is a clinical supervisor and clinic director of the Academy for Five Element Acupuncture.