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.
Jennifer Brett, ND, LAc
Dr. Jennifer Brett is the director of the University of Bridgeport Acupuncture Institute. She is a graduate of National College of Naturopathic Medicine (1987) and the Tri-State College of Acupuncture (1988). She has an extensive background in treating a wide variety of disorders utilizing acupuncture as well as nutritional and botanical remedies. Dr. Brett is the chief editor of the CCAHM Clean Needle Technique Manual, 7th Edition, the primary resource for acupuncture safety in the U.S.