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.
Shayla Thompson, MAOM, LAc, Dipl. OM
Shayla Thompson has treated thousands of bodies all over the world on island, sea, forest, and now the desert. Between working, she has traveled to study other ancient medical systems including yoga in India and shamanic arts in Peru. Her passion and ongoing study includes local herbal medicines, nervous system regulation, and spiritual truth. Currently, she is focused on expanding acupuncture to the people and places it has not yet touched.