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.
Sarica Cernohous, LAc, MSTOM, BSBA
Sarica Cernohous is a 2001 graduate of Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego. She practices Japanese-style acupuncture in Arizona, and teaches on the principles of whole-food nutrition and traditional food preparation. She is the author of The Funky Kitchen: A Compilation of One Soccer Mom's Favorite Traditional Food Preparation Techniques and Recipes, and has dedicated her website (www.naturallylivingtoday.com) to living better in modern times. She can be reached at sarica@naturallylivingtoday.com.