Somatic Line Safety Addendum — Tier 2 & Tier 3 Triggers
Status: Draft — pending licensed clinician review and sign-off Applies to: Somatic Line modules (SOM-01 through SOM-08) Relationship to main standard: This addendum extends the Shadowwork Safety Standard and complements the Emotional & Interpersonal Line Safety Addendum. Somatic practices carry body-specific risks not covered by either standard.
Why this addendum exists
Somatic work is distinct from both psychological shadow work and physical exercise. It directly engages the nervous system through body-based attention — and the nervous system stores unprocessed experience in ways the cognitive mind does not control. A learner can have genuine intellectual insight into a pattern while their body continues to hold the activation. Somatic practices can surface this held material without warning.
This addendum covers risks specific to somatic line work:
- Freeze and dissociation responses — body-focused attention triggering dorsal vagal shutdown or depersonalisation
- Re-traumatisation from breath or body-scan practices — interoceptive attention re-activating unprocessed trauma
- Breath practice risks — extended breathwork triggering panic, hyperventilation, or autonomic destabilisation
- Eating disorder-adjacent body awareness distortions — body-scan or interoceptive attention reinforcing harmful hypervigilance toward the body
- Medical masking — somatic symptoms that present as dysregulation but originate from undiagnosed medical conditions
Somatic practices are not a substitute for medical evaluation. Any persistent, unexplained physical symptom should be assessed by a qualified medical professional before being addressed through somatic developmental work.
Tier 2 Triggers — Facilitator Supervision Required
Tier 2 triggers indicate that a learner should not continue the practice independently. A qualified facilitator should be present for any further somatic practice sessions. These triggers do not necessarily require clinical referral — they do require an experienced practitioner who can distinguish between productive activation and harmful dysregulation.
| Trigger | Observable signals | Immediate response | When to escalate to clinical referral |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dissociation during body scan | Learner reports feeling "outside" their body, watching from above, or unable to feel body regions that were previously accessible; gaze becomes unfixed or staring; responses become delayed or absent; learner reports the body feeling "not mine" | Immediately stop the body scan. Use the 3-step grounding protocol (see below). Do not attempt to "bring the learner back into their body" through more somatic attention — this can deepen dissociation. Offer a cognitive alternative or end the session. | If dissociation does not resolve within 10 minutes of grounding; if this is a recurring pattern across sessions; if the learner reports dissociative experiences outside of practice contexts |
| Freeze response that does not resolve | Learner becomes immobile, breathing becomes shallow or held, muscle tone increases (rigidity) or collapses; learner may report feeling "stuck" or unable to move or speak | Do not touch the learner without explicit consent. Speak calmly and slowly. Use orienting: "Can you open your eyes? Can you look around the room? Can you tell me one thing you see?" Allow the freeze to resolve at its own pace — forcing movement can trigger a sympathetic surge. | If freeze persists for more than 5 minutes after grounding; if the freeze includes loss of speech or responsiveness; if this mirrors a known trauma response pattern |
| Panic symptoms during breath practice | Rapid, shallow breathing; heart palpitations; chest tightness; dizziness; sense of impending doom; learner reports "I can't breathe" despite objectively adequate oxygenation | Stop the breath practice immediately. Shift attention away from internal sensations: "Open your eyes. Look at me. Can you name three things in this room?" Do not instruct the learner to control their breathing — this can worsen panic. Allow natural breath to return. | If symptoms do not subside within 5 minutes; if this is the learner's first panic experience and they are frightened by it; if panic includes chest pain that could be cardiac (err on the side of medical evaluation) |
| Intense emotional release that does not integrate | Uncontrollable crying, shaking, or emotional flooding that does not settle with grounding; learner reports feeling worse after the release rather than relieved; the intensity escalates rather than diminishes | Do not encourage the learner to "let it out" or "go deeper." This is not productive catharsis — it is dysregulation. Use grounding protocol. Validate without exploring: "That was a lot. You don't need to process it right now. Let's just be here for a moment." Offer to end the session. | If flooding recurs across sessions; if the content of the release involves trauma material the facilitator is not trained to hold; if the learner reports feeling destabilised for hours or days after practice |
Tier 3 Triggers — Clinical Referral or Facilitator-Led Only
Tier 3 triggers indicate that the learner should not continue somatic practice without clinical support. These are not failures of the practice or the learner — they are signals that the material being surfaced exceeds the scope of developmental education.
| Trigger | Observable signals | Response |
|---|---|---|
| Unprocessed trauma surfacing somatically | Body-scan or interoceptive practice produces intrusive body memories, flashbacks with somatic components (feeling physical sensations associated with a past event), or re-experiencing of physical trauma. Learner reports feeling "back in" the original situation. | Stop immediately. Use grounding protocol. Do not attempt to process the content. Refer to a trauma-informed clinician. Note: the learner may not have known this material was present — this is not a failure of screening. |
| Eating disorder-adjacent body awareness distortions | Learner becomes hyper-focused on body size, shape, or specific body parts during scan; expresses distress about body perception rather than body sensation; body awareness practice reinforces rather than reduces body-related anxiety; learner uses the practice to "check" the body repeatedly | Stop the body-scan practice and shift to practices that do not involve interoceptive attention (grounding with eyes open, naming external objects). Do not engage with the content of body-image distress — this is not within the scope of somatic developmental education. Refer to a clinician with eating disorder competence. |
| Dissociative disorders or suspected dissociative pathology | Learner has a known dissociative disorder diagnosis (DID, OSDD, depersonalisation/derealisation disorder); learner reports "losing time" during practice; learner reports multiple distinct self-states with different somatic profiles; learner's response to grounding is inconsistent or absent | Somatic practices with interoceptive attention are contraindicated without direct clinical supervision. Refer to the learner's treating clinician for clearance before any body-scan or interoceptive practice. Grounding with external focus (naming objects, feet on floor) may be safe — consult the clinician. |
| Undiagnosed medical condition presenting as dysregulation | Learner reports persistent somatic symptoms (pain, numbness, tingling, dizziness, fatigue) that do not respond to regulation practices; symptoms follow a pattern inconsistent with autonomic dysregulation (e.g., unilateral, triggered by specific movements rather than emotional states); learner has not had a recent medical evaluation | Stop attributing symptoms to dysregulation. Recommend medical evaluation before continuing somatic practice. Somatic developmental work is not a diagnostic tool. Err on the side of medical referral — missing a neurological or cardiac condition because it was framed as "somatic dysregulation" is a serious error. |
Standardised Grounding Protocol for Somatic Activation
For all somatic line Tier 2 and Tier 3 activations. The facilitator models each step calmly, at a measured pace.
Step 1 — Orienting
- "Open your eyes if they are closed. Look around the room."
- "Name five things you can see — aloud or silently."
- Purpose: re-establishes visual contact with the present environment, interrupting immersive somatic activation.
Step 2 — Grounding
- "Place both feet flat on the floor. Feel the surface under you."
- "Notice the weight of your body in the chair. Feel the contact points."
- Purpose: re-establishes proprioceptive awareness of the present body without directing attention inward.
Step 3 — Containment
- "The material that came up is real. You do not need to process it or explain it right now."
- "Would you like to stop for today, or shift to a different kind of exercise?"
- Purpose: acknowledges the activation without exploring it, giving the learner agency.
Note on breath instructions: No prescribed breath-count ratios (per SAFE-03). Extended exhale patterns can be activating for some anxiety profiles. Use invitational language: "at a pace that feels settling."
Medical Evaluation Guidance
Somatic developmental work is educational, not diagnostic. The following symptoms should be evaluated by a medical professional before being engaged through somatic practice:
- Unilateral symptoms (affecting only one side of the body)
- Symptoms triggered by specific movements or positions rather than emotional states
- Progressive worsening over time
- Symptoms that wake the learner from sleep
- New onset of severe or unusual headache
- Unexplained weight loss, fever, or night sweats accompanying somatic complaints
- Sensory or motor loss that follows a neurological pattern (dermatomal distribution)
Do not: attribute these symptoms to "held trauma," "body armor," or "somatic dysregulation" without medical evaluation. The somatic line framework describes developmental capacities — it is not an explanatory framework for undiagnosed medical conditions.
Cross-References
- Somatic Line Overview (SOM-01) — full line definition and evidence base
- Shadowwork Safety Standard — main safety standard
- Emotional & Interpersonal Line Safety Addendum — companion addendum
- State Development Safety Standard
- SAFE-03 — no prescribed breath-count ratios
⚠️ HUMAN-REQUIRED: This addendum must be reviewed and signed off by a licensed clinician with somatic or trauma-informed practice experience before it is considered active. The Tier 2/3 trigger descriptions, grounding protocol, and medical evaluation guidance represent best-practice educational scaffolding — not clinical protocols. A clinician should confirm that the trigger thresholds, dissociative response guidance, and medical referral criteria are appropriate for the intended audience and context.