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.
Marlene Merritt, DOM, LAc, ACN
Marlene Merritt is a licensed acupuncturist and runs a wellness center in Austin, Texas. She specializes in combining Oriental medicine, nutrition and Western testing to quickly and effectively impact her patients' health. She can be reached at info@merrittwellnesscenter.com.