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.
Whitfield Reaves, OMD, LAc
Whitfield Reaves, OMD, LAc has a Doctorate of Oriental Medicine degree from SAMRA University of Health Sciences and is a Licensed Acupuncturist. He is also a Professor/Instructor at Southwest Acupuncture College in Boulder, CO. Reaves is also the author of "The Acupuncture Handbook of Sports Injuries and Pain." Contact Reaves at WReavesoffice@comcast.net.