Soins palliatifs : une clinique de l'équivoque ?

Practising in the field of palliative care confronts us at once with a confusion of language which prevents from reaching a common meaning. We therefore intend in this article to clear up both the individual and collective stakes, the various levels of language (terminology, speech…) and the conscious and unconscious mechanisms. Starting from the presentation of a clinical case a mobile palliative care team worked on, this article examines how difficult it is when making decisions dealing with the end of life, to work on the ambiguity of words and to spot the different representations and practices linked to the “cultures of services”, which in themselves are not easy to detect. The beginning of a psychopathology of the life of care provides some answers, yet, one has to be cautious since it is based on what should be called the clinical practice of ambiguity.