Reassurance reconsidered.

Reassurance is a therapeutic intervention that is commonly employed by physicians in their practice of medicine. Although physicians most often save reassurance for the patient with benign and transient disease, it is an appropriate therapeutic intervention in patients with chronic and progressive conditions as well. The goals of reassurance include relieving the patient's anxiety and restoring his sense of autonomy. This requires that the physician clarify the meaning that the perceived illness has for the patient, characterize the patient's information needs and convey a message that addresses these needs in an empathic and unambiguous way. Ultimately, the success of reassurance relies as much upon the physician's ability to effectively communicate with the patient and his commitment to the doctor-patient relationship as it does to his understanding of human pathology.