The Safe and Sound Protocol
A non-invasive listening therapy for better nervous system regulation.
The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is an evidence-based therapeutic tool designed to reset the nervous system and return it to safety. Designed to work with other therapeutic approaches such as Somatic Experiencing and EMDR, the SSP features specially filtered music that stimulates and tones the vagus nerve. Suitable for children and adults, the SSP has shown benefits for people with trauma, anxiety, sensory processing differences, tinnitus, and much more. The SSP accelerates the process of therapy, creating a safer background for clients to step into other processing.
What is the Safe and Sound Protocol?
Developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, founder of the Polyvagal Theory, the Safe and Sound Protocol is a non-invasive acoustic vagus nerve stimulator that helps clients connect with themselves, others, and the world from a place of physiological safety. Clients experience the SSP playlists through over-the-ear headphones which can be delivered in-clinic or remotely via app.
Engage the ventral vagal complex through the neural network associated with listening.
Shift the nervous system into safety using the SSP’s algorithmically filtered music.
Administer therapy to a physiologically and psychologically available client.
How Does It Work?
The Safe & Sound Protocol (SSP) is the only practical application of Polyvagal Theory and is designed to improve sound sensitivities and auditory processing, behavioral state regulation, and social engagement behaviors through specially-filtered music. The SSP allows for the repatterning of neural networks and improved regulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) for lasting change.
Based on hierarchical recruitment of the ANS, the SSP trains the middle ear muscles to tune-in to cues of safety signaled by the frequencies of human voice, which stimulates the social engagement system through the neural network associated with listening. It repairs early attachment loss, while creating nervous system safety.
The SSP interrupts chronic states of nervous system defense by stimulating the neural networks associated with listening.
The SSP uses algorithmically filtered music focused on the frequency range of the human voice that alters the way sounds are interpreted.
This ushers the nervous system out of a defensive (fight, flight or freeze) state and into a socially engaged (ventral vagal) state.
Who Is It For?
The SSP is suitable for children and adults and has been designed to work with a diverse variety of therapeutic approaches and modalities. Its effectiveness has been proven in a wide range of studies including clinical trials involving children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, along with numerous case studies demonstrating effectiveness with emotional regulation, trauma, anxiety, and more.
