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.
Katie Pedrick, MAOM, LAc
Katie Pedrick is a licensed acupuncturist, herbalist and co-founder of the Point Acupressure iOS mobile app (www.pointhealth.co/). She owns a multi-practitioner private practice in Boston, Mass., and practices virtually wherever her feet take her. She holds an MAOM from the New England School of Acupuncture (now MCPHS) and a master's in biotechnology from Harvard University. Reach her via email at katie@vibeacupuncture.com.