Regulate Your Nervous System
The Safe and Sound Protocol
What is the Safe and Sound Protocol?
The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is a powerful listening therapy designed to help regulate the nervous system so you can better connect with yourself, others, and the world around you. It is a non-invasive method of re-tuning the nervous system by listening to specifically filtered music through headphones, which can be done during therapy sessions and/or at home through an app. The music is specifically designed to help calm your nervous system, support emotion regulation, and foster resilience.
Program Highlights
A five-hour auditory intervention developed and patented by Dr. Stephen Porges, author of the Polyvagal Theory.
Option for further listening to increase results, further regulate the nervous system, and enhance brain integration.
Designed to reduce sound sensitivity, and improve auditory processing and behavioral state regulation.
Activates the client’s social engagement system, helping to accelerate and enhance therapeutic outcomes.
Supports physiological state regulation, allowing for greater resilience.
Polyvagal Theory: The Science of Feeling Safe
Developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, Polyvagal Theory focuses on what is happening in the body and the nervous system, and explains how our sense of safety, danger or life-threat can impact our behavior. Understanding Polyvagal Theory gives us a scientific framework that can be applied through physiological, or “bottom-up” therapies, to help change and improve how we feel, think and connect with others.
Polyvagal Theory has revolutionized the way we view the body’s response to stress, considering the autonomic nervous system the foundation of our lived experience. Originally, we viewed the body’s reaction to stress as binary: we're either in a sympathetic or parasympathetic state. Polyvagal Theory, however, shows that there are multiple and blended states of arousal in response to real or perceived stress.
In simpler terms, Polyvagal Theory helps us understand how we engage in and interact with the world.
The SSP might be helpful for you if you struggle with:
Anxiety
Depression
Symptoms related to trauma or PTSD
Low frustration tolerance
Shutting down, people-pleasing, withdrawing, or disengagement
Difficulty with emotion/mood regulation
Behavioral issues
Hyperactivity
Learning difficulties
Sensory processing differences
Sound/auditory sensitivities
Neurodevelopmental differences (such as ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder)
Social engagement difficulties
And more!
Some typical positive outcomes of the SSP include:
Lower anxiety
Improved emotional/mood control
Improvements in sensory sensitivities
Improvements in social connection and communication
Better focus and attention
Enhanced learning ability
Improvements in sleep
Decrease in trauma-related symptoms
Decreased reactivity
Improvements in stress-related physical symptoms and pain
Improved outcomes with other forms of therapy
Change is truly comprehensive. Some of these changes may occur immediately, but many are gradual as the brain continues to change and integrate the information in the weeks and months after completion of the SSP.
The SSP is not for you if:
You are experiencing uncontrolled seizures
You are currently having suicidal thoughts
You are currently in an unsafe/unstable living or work environment
You are currently misusing substances
You are currently engaging in self-harming behaviors
How long does the SSP take?
For most clients, completion of the program means listening to all 5 hours of a selected program broken into shorter listening sessions based on your unique needs. Additional programs may be recommended for further benefit and results. After discussing the SSP and your current symptoms together, I will recommend a personalized protocol for you. Typically we will do your first listening session together during a scheduled appointment, then you will likely be able to complete the remainder of your listening sessions at home on your own time. You may also opt to complete your sessions during scheduled therapy sessions as part of our work together.
The SSP may also be repeated after a minimum of 6-8 weeks for further benefit and/or if certain symptoms return. After completion of your first protocol, we will monitor your symptoms and progress to determine if repeating the SSP may be beneficial for you.
SSP Cost
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Current individual therapy clients may add access to the SSP for a fee of $350. This includes access to the app to complete your listening sessions at home at your own pace.
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For anyone who wishes to complete the SSP but does not currently work with me for individual therapy, you will need to first come in for a 50-minute intake session ($150) and then you can complete your listening sessions at home at your own pace for a fee of $350. Intake sessions may also be done virtually.