Conflict of experience: A categorization model for studying verbal interaction

In order to describe communication between people, some new concepts are introduced. These are derived from a model using 'conflict of experience' as its main theoretical reference. Such conflict presumably occurs when different interpretations of "the same" reality confronts each other. How such a conflict is handled is seen as depending upon factors in the situation, and on motive states of the person. A dialogue from Ibsen's play "John Gabriel Borkman" is analyzed in terms of the model in order to demonstrate its possible fruitfulness for describing and understanding verbal interaction. Psychotherapeutic concepts are discussed in relation to the theoretical points of veiw presented.