Abstract
This study explores the embodied experiences of pre-licensed marriage and family therapists (MFTs) during in-session instances of client trauma disclosure through poetical analysis. Informed by Karen Barad’s agential realism, interviews with novice MFTs (N = 11) were examined, considering evocative moments or moments of “aliveness” where the material-discursive body of the therapist was impacted by disclosure. Poetical analyses highlighted how pre-licensed MFTs embody and experience disclosure physiologically, emotionally, cognitively, and relationally, underscoring the layered ways in which therapists respond to client trauma. Eleven poems depict the embodied experience of trauma disclosure, based on the researcher’s hearing of MFTs’ experiences of client trauma disclosure. Understanding the multiplicative experiences of therapists during trauma disclosure may aid in normalizing the breadth of responses that come with relationally engaging with and holding space for trauma-affected clients and serve as an introduction to the varied and evocative experiences of trauma disclosure for therapists in training.