Chronic pain is a common prcolem requiring a multidisciplinary approach. Nursing can offer diverse therapies complementary to the medical‐surgical approach. Guidelines for practice and challenges for research a '9 outlined for selected nonpharmacological chronic pain therapies. This article discusses the placebo effect, which is common to all therapies. Placebos can therapeutically e‐npower patients to stimulate their psychophysiologic self‐regulation abilities. Effects, theories, ethics, and therapeutic methods of stimulating the placebo effect are exp