WARNING: Spoilers for Fantastic Four #31 by Dan Slott, R.B. Silva, Jesus Aburtov & VC's Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
The members of the Fantastic Four heroically joined the battle to defend Earth from Knull during the events of "King in Black." However, the symbiote god exposed many of the team's inherent flaws, and even worse, used them to confront one another with those difficult truths.
Franklin went with Valeria and Bentley to join the fight in the city, and one of Knull's symbotes overtook Valeria. The possessed Valeria lashed out at her brother Franklin with painful words, ultimately calling him the most worthless member of the Fantastic Four. This was a hit far below the belt for Franklin, who has been struggling with feeling this way ever since he lost his powers.
Once the threat of the symbiotes was nullified, Reed and Sue Richards took their son to see a superpowered psychiatrist named Trauma who worked with kids. Created by Dan Slott and Stefano Caselli, Trauma, aka Terrance Ward, has the power to transform into a person's greatest fear. Making his first major appearance in Avengers: The Initiative #1, Ward joined Camp Hammond to learn how to control his powers. Trauma gained the perfect mentor there with Mirage, who possesses a somewhat similar ability to manifest things present in another person's mind. Trauma disappeared after the Initiative ended with the revelation that he was the son of the mystical villain Nightmare.
Now, it appears he is working with kids as a therapist, and he has gained enough control of his powers to turn into what his patients fear the most in a way that is safe for all involved. Franklin had little hope that Trauma could help him, expecting him to take on the form of something fearful like a symbiote or Mephisto. Instead, Ward transformed into the splitting image of Franklin, indicating that his patient's biggest fear was himself.
This revelation has been a long time coming for Franklin Richards. When Franklin believed he was an omega-level mutant, he developed an attitude and pushed his family away because he felt that he was different from the rest of them. Things got worse for the teen when he used the full force of his powers to help the team and ended up losing them altogether in issue #25.
Franklin attempted to return to Krakoa, where he had often visited under the belief that he was a mutant. However, Professor Xavier denied him entry explaining that he was never a mutant. He used his immense powers to make it appear he was one, most likely in a subconscious effort to be accepted and feel a sense of belonging. It was no doubt devastating to lose the friends and connections he had made, complicated by the fact that he also lost what he thought made him special. These feeling were exasperated by his own sister calling him worthless, and now it appears that he now fears himself more than anything, or perhaps more accurately his being perpetually useless to everyone around him.