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.
Simel Bey
Simel E.J. Bey is an author, teacher, and innovator. He is a fully trained Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor and holds degrees in Oriental Medicine and Film. His areas of certification include clinical and field herbalism and ethno-botany. He is the founder of a community engagement program in Austin, Texas, known as The Children in Nature Workshops. For more information, visit www.beyacupuncture.com.