Safe & Sound Protocol |

What is it?

The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is a 5 hour* auditory intervention designed to reduce stress and auditory sensitivity while enhancing social engagement and resilience.

SSP is based on Dr. Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory – the science of feeling safe enough to engage with life more fully. SSP calms your physiological and emotional state, opening the doors for improved communication and more successful engagement in other therapies and interventions.

What SSP is not

SSP is not a stand-alone intervention or quick fix; it is best seen as a platform to prepare the client for other therapies and interventions. SSP reduces feelings of anxiety, which can interfere with the quality of day-to-day engagements. Reduction in anxiety will correspond with safety, demonstrated in engaging behaviours such as friendlier facial expression, voice and open body language all of which support connection.

So how does SSP work?

You will use over the ear headphones (not noise cancelling) to listen to specially filtered music. The music is designed to stimulate the nervous system by gradually exposing the auditory system to different sound frequencies of human speech. The function of the tiny muscles attached to the eardrum improves by listening to the music. The client learns to process human speech frequencies, improve self-soothing, autonomic regulation and the functioning of the pathways that promote overall social behaviour. The result is the brain and body moving out of Fight/Flight or Freeze response and into the calmness of social engagement.

Who can benefit from SSP?

If you are considering SSP for yourself or somebody else, it is best to think about features; not diagnosis. SSP has been found to help with the following:

Reaction to over stimulation
Anxiety
Getting easily stressed or frustrated
Auditory hypersensitivity
Inattention
Behavioural dysregulation
Difficulty with social communication
Feeling panicky
Avoiding certain things and situations

How is it delivered?

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, I delivered SSP in-person at a counselling practice. Like many other areas of our lives, in-person SSP delivery was impacted by the necessary Covid-19 restrictions. Fortunately, Unyte-iLs responded to this challenge by developing remote SSP delivery.

Once we have established that SSP is appropriate for you, I will guide you through downloading the SSP app on your iPhone or Android phone. I will then give you access to the music programme before starting our sessions on Zoom.

SSP with me

If you need both SSP and psychological therapy; I can provide both services; alternatively, you can have SSP with me and continue psychological therapy with your therapist or link back to your community support system.

SSP for children

I specialise in SSP provision to children and young people.

Any benefits from SSP will be cemented and extended if active co-regulation is provided to the child. Any new desirable behaviour your child displays will need to be recognised and responded to positively. Your repeated and consistent responses will enhance their new sense of safety and reinforce their new behaviour.

Children 3 -12 years old: I hold a series of meetings to support the adult to provide SSP to their child in the comfort of their home and at a time that best suits the family.

Children 13 years old and above and to adults: I provide remote SSP directly to clients in this age range. We can discuss having a supportive other for younger people who may need this.

* With remote SSP, you will have a maximum of half an hour’s listening per day. However, your psychological safety and messages from your autonomic nervous system are most important in the delivery of SSP. We do not power through the 30 minutes so if your nervous system is not able to take it all in, we will honour your system by giving it a rest then continue in the next session.