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 Moiles, LAc
Jennifer Moiles is a licensed acupuncturist in the state of California and a candidate for national certification. She currently lives in the Netherlands and travels regularly with Acupuncturists Without Borders. You can follow her work at heartwombandsoul.com.