48

In palliative care, patients suffering from a progressive and incurable disease are mainly treated with a classic medication therapy. On the one hand, these treatments are often heavy and present many side-effects, and on the other, they do not fully meet the patients’ needs. In this respect, many patients turn to unconventional or alternative medicines like associated therapies. Hypnosis and sophrology are two so-called complementary therapies that are based on focusing attention on different targets suggested by a therapist, as well as relaxation. Both of these techniques are more or less devoid of side effects and require no particular infrastructure. They are sometimes used in palliative care. However, there are no clear guidelines for their use and few patients nearing the end of their lives are given these therapies. It appears that both these methods are beneficial for dealing with physical symptoms like pain, dyspnoea and nausea but also correspond to psychological and spiritual needs. Indeed, they can reduce anxiety, improve autonomy and help patients to accept their illness and the relationship with their family and friends. However, our work being fundamentally of a qualitative nature based on data collected from therapists, it would be appropriate to conduct new studies to verify these statements.