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.
Judyth Shamosh, PhD
Dr. Judyth Shamosh has been a continual student of herbal medicine since 1974. The founder of Greenfingers Herbal Medicine Clinic in Phoenix, Ariz., she practices ayurvedic, classical Chinese and Western herbal medicine. Dr. Judyth is the author of the double-award-winning book The Physics & Poetry of Eastern Herbal Medicine. Her considerable professional experience includes previous service as a lecturer of ayurvedic and classical Chinese herbal medicine at the Phoenix Institute for Herbal Medicine & Acupuncture; vice chair at RainStar University College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine; adjunct faculty at the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine; and member of the credentialing committee for the Arizona Center for Health and Medicine. Learn more at www.JudythShamosh.com.