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.
Steve Liu, LAc, BSEE
Steve Liu received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree from San Jose State University and graduated from the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He is the founder and president of the American Society for Laser Acupuncture Therapy; president emeritis of the Arizona Society of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine  and the North American Association for photobiomoduLation Therapy; and a board member of the International Society for Medical Laser Applications. Steve is also the founder of HanLing Acupuncture Healing Center and the Integrative Brain Healing Institute, and has a private practice in Tucson, Ariz.