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.
Teri Calandra, LAc (NCCAOM), Dipl. Acu, MSTOM, LMT
Teri Calandra is licensed by the state of Illinois in acupuncture, and is board certified through the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM). She holds a Masters of Science in traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and herbology. She graduated from PCOM (Chicago) with her Masters of Science. In 2005, she earned her degree in massage therapy from American Institute of Alternative Medicine - Columbus, Ohio.