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.
Mary J. Rogel, PhD, DiplAc, LAc
Mary J. Rogel, PhD, DiplAc, LAc, played a major role in legalizing acupuncture in Illinois. She was the Chairman of the Illinois Board of Acupuncture for 14 years, and served for many years on the Board of the Illinois State Acupuncture Association. Mary graduated from the Midwest Center for the Study of Oriental Medicine in 1986 and has a full-time acupuncture practice in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. She is a licensed provider of acupuncture continuing education in Illinois, editor of Oriental Medicine Journal, and a teacher with the online and in person Panacea Community. Mary also holds a PhD in social psychology from The University of Chicago.