["...always giving comfort". General practitioners and the everyday consolation].

Since the time of Hippocrates" ... to always comfort" has been regarded as a part of every physician's profession. However, this daily phenomenon of medical practice has not been studied very much so far. Consolation is sometimes emphasized when care is more prominent than cure, as in palliative or intensive care or when seeing family members during these circumstances. Six general practitioners in a focus-group interview presented narratives about their experience of consolation in the consultation. They also described the last time they managed to comfort a patient. The narratives were analysed by an empirical psychological phenomenological method. Four themes emerged that gave a meaning to consolation: "presence", "be in contact", "confirmation" and "restoration". The consultations were characterized by acceptance, freedom, respect and absence of demand. However, consolation could also be associated with negative features such as instrumental and ritual behaviour and a "top-down" attitude that inhibited the healing process. Consolation as an important element of medical practice needs to be further studied.