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.
Kamala Quayle, MSOM, LAc
Kamala Quale has been developing and teaching a blend of mind and body skills with acupuncture and Oriental bodywork for more than 15 years. Kamala is a teacher for the Hakomi Institute for Experiential Psychology, a qigong instructor for the Mt. Emei and Jin Jing Gong styles, and a contributing author for mind and body skills in A Complete Guide for Acupressure. For more information, visit her Web site: www.moonandlotus.com.