The following paper critically examines invalidation's role in trauma, drawing extensively on the work of Bromberg who is one of its most influential proponents. Although Bromberg correctly identifies invalidation as a necessary condition, his central argument is weakened by portraying personal identity as an illusion concealing the existence of multiple selves. Against his view, I suggest that its causal relevance is most clearly demonstrated in terms of its impact on agentic and/or core beliefs. This hypothesis is consistent with the perspectives of nonrelational psychoanalytic theorists and enjoys robust empirical support.