ABSTRACT
Relationship ruptures in the treatment of highly traumatized clients may be common, but they are not inevitable. Therapists have thresholds of affect tolerance and belief that affect their ability to stay present to clients’ experiences. The treater’s capacity to believe a client affects the quality of attachment. Disbelief is a form of countertransference that can rupture relationship. This chapter focuses on growing relational ability in the therapist, how to hear and respond effectively to trauma disclosures, why clinicians do or do not believe their clients, and how to enter into another person’s story without judgment or disbelief while maintaining objectivity.
