ABSTRACT
Beginning with a historical examination of the definition and study of psychological trauma, this article places trauma and abuse within a relational theoretical context to explore new understandings that can arise from this framework. Working within this framework and stressing the power of cultural narratives, the paper highlights the delegitimization of emotions and emotional pain and explores the ways in which a widespread failure of empathy contributes to a lack of understanding with regard to the validity of emotional trauma. The paper suggests that because evidence of suffering must often be in a physical form, mirroring early understandings of the causes of trauma, the tendency to rely on the courts for direction only serves to further undermine the credibility of emotional pain.