A conceptual model, based on the Grantly Dick-Read fear-tension-pain cycle concept, for intervening in pain in labor is presented. The model can serve as a guide to help break the cycle and to establish a new cycle which operates on positive, rather than negative, forces, i.e., education, purposeful activity, and supportive care, each directed toward breaking a specific segment of the cycle. The conceptual model can be used in educational settings and as a tool for determining priority of focus for nursing intervention with the labor patient.