It is out of the scope of practice for an AT and is therefore dangerous to patients or at the very least painful. Dry needling IS acupuncture. Are you using an ACUPUNCTURE NEEDLE? Then it’s acupuncture. It is said they are not using acupuncture points but trigger points and motor points are in fact acupuncture points. Leave it to the professionals (ie acupuncturists) who are trained with needles.