Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is evidence-based and was developed on the basis of 40 years of research by Dr Stephen Porges. It involves listening to 5 hours of filtered music, with the support of a qualified professional.
I first discovered Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) in 2020, when I was looking for a solution to my own sound sensitivities that were having a damaging effect on my relationship with one of my children. My child was happily loud and rambunctious, but my body wasn’t receiving his sounds that way. Instead it was sending me into uncontrollable panic, where my only response was to retreat so I wouldn’t explode, and it was getting to the point that I was isolating myself preemptively and frequently.
Since completing SSP my ability to cope with loud sounds from my children has remained high. I can still jump at a loud bang, and can get overwhelmed when in a fast paced environment with lots going on, but my base line is high (anxious) and SSP isn’t a fix all! It can offer a vast improvement in all kinds of symptoms and can help the body be more receptive to the world we live in..
I’ve now delivered SSP to dozens of clients, and collaborated with my child’s psychologist to deliver is to him. The results are often stunning.
Understanding how the stress response works in our body, and where it can go ‘wrong’ can be helpful for some people. If you like to understand the how’s of things, check out this video explaining how trauma and the poly-vagus nerve are linked.
Who is it for?
One thing I love about SSP is that many people can benefit from it (all potential candidates are screened for contraindications and provided with a list of potential adverse affects before commencing).
It can be used as an early stage intervention to help resource you with a more regulated nervous system that is then more receptive to further therapy.
And it can be used to ‘tune up’ the nervous system at any time, whether you consider yourself to be mostly stable and or you feel your life / body-mind is in chaos.
However, it is NOT a tool to calm you down in times of stress, rather, it is designed to shake up the nervous system, while remaining regulated, and when your nervous system settles you will discover a base level of regulation that is calmer, and more able to respond to stress flexibly. Ideally it is undertaken at a time of minimal additional external stressors to your normal stress load. We can talk about what this means for you in your first session, or you can book an intro consult to learn more.
Research was first undertaken on an autistic population, but has been extended to include ADHD and chronic illnesses. It is known for it’s affect on sensory sensitivities specifically. It is my belief, through anecdotal observation and conversation with other providers, that it’s benefits are as far reaching as we could imagine; auto-immune diseases, heart disease, IBS, trauma and beyond…
You can learn more from this video made by the SSP providers Unyte-iLs:
What do we do?
Depending on your experience of safety in the body, there are three programs you can use; Connect, Core & Balance.
Data gathered from your responses to a questionnaire will help determine your readiness for which program, and give us an indication of the level of support you may need as you progress through the program.
We’ll always start together and, through co-regulation, we stay in a ventral vagal ANS state, while gently titrating the delivery of the music. I’ll ask you to check in with me after a couple of songs and we’ll discuss what you experienced, which in turn informs how best to proceed.
What this mean is that everyone will need at least one session together, that is paid for separately to the subscription. Emails checking in and asking questions throughout the program are free. The subscription last for 3 months. Most people will complete the protocol within this timeframe, but we always work within the mantra “less is more”. If you need to take longer, because the titration of the protocol is only a very small amount each day, then we can work something out together. If, however, you simply don’t use it, you will need to purchase the subscription again. SSP is a commitment to practice.
Some people need a lot of support one-on-one to notice when they are become agitated or shut down, and will need to pause frequently and use their resources or be guided back to a ventral vagal state (in sessions together I can teach you practical, poly-vagal informed activities to use during SSP and beyond in your life). Others will be able to self-manage their ANS regulation and protocol titration to a greater degree, and may progress more quickly through the program. What is most important is travelling at the pace that your nervous system will allow and remember the program can take as long as your body needs.
