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.
Khanie Ha, LAc, Dipl. Ac., DACM, MSW
Khanie Ha is a licensed acupuncturist in California and Washington state. She has a doctorate of acupuncture and Chinese medicine from Pacific College of Health and Science, and a master's of science in traditional Chinese medicine from the Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences. Additionally she holds a master's in social work and a bachelor's in philosophy and political communication from the University of Washington. She currently practices at Crossover Health in the Bay Area; and creates TCM educational videos at www.youtube.com/khanieha. For more information, visit www.khanieha.com.