Safe & Sound Protocol
“If you want to improve the world, start by making people feel safer.”
-Stephen Porges
The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) was developed by Dr. Stephen Porges and is based on his research of the vagus nerve and his groundbreaking perspective on Polyvagal Theory.
The SSP is a neurologically based intervention that utilizes the auditory pathways to calm physiological and emotional states, enhance social connection, and promote health and restoration.
The SSP is a powerful listening therapy designed to support more coherence in the nervous system, so you can better connect with yourself, others and the world around you.
The SSP is designed to reduce stress and auditory sensitivity while enhancing social engagement and resilience.
The SSP uses filtered vocal music to engage the vagus nerve through stimulation of the neural network associated with listening.
The vagus nerve is the part of the nervous system responsible for rest, regulation, connection, and social engagement and is an important bidirectional pathway between the body and the brain.
When the vagus nerve is stimulated, cognitive and emotional regulation is possible and states of anxiety, stress, and overwhelm are minimized.
The SSP is designed to increase feelings of calm and safety, reduce sound sensitivity, support mental focus and clear thinking, and connect more genuinely with others.
“Trauma compromises our ability to engage with others by replacing patterns of connection with patterns of protection.”
-Stephen Porges
The Safe & Sound Protocol might be supportive if you…
… have social and emotional difficulties
… experience auditory sensitivities or auditory overwhelm (ex: misophonia)
… experience anxiety, depression or other traumatic stress symptoms
… have difficulties regulating your physiological and emotional state
… have dysautonomia, long-covid, chronic illness, chronic pain or chronic fatigue
… struggle with autoimmune disease, chronic digestive issues, inflammation or connective tissue disorder (EDS, HSDs)
… struggle to relax or slow down
… struggle to get going or feel motivated
… are exhausted, overwhelmed or burnt out
… are feeling disconnected, shut down or numb
… feel angry, short-fused, or frustrated
… find it hard to communicate, be seen or be heard
… struggle with self-harm or addiction
… have certain activities that no longer feel safe or accessible
… want to expand your somatic literacy and/or become more fluent in the language of your body
As you learn to focus on the sound frequencies of human speech through the SSP, the vagus nerve becomes stimulated and the state of feeling more safe and calm becomes accessible.
As capacity within your Social Engagement System grows you may experience:
increased capacity to engage eye contact & facial expressivity
improved clarity & understanding of speech and sounds in environment
better emotional awareness & resilience
an increased desire to reach out or engage in relationship
increased emotional expressivity with others
increased awareness of & connection to your nervous system’s yes’s and no’s
increased ability to relax & settle, less shutting down
increased sense of curiosity & playfulness
increased ability to speak or express more freely
increased hunger cues, accurate tracking of hunger & satiety
improved sleep or decreased disruption in sleep
less variability in mood swings
increased ability to know & meet needs
less usage of management strategies (eating, substances, technology)
increased capacity for authentic connection
a desire to reconnect to aspects of self that were inhibited or inaccessible
Through a process called neuroception, our bodies are constantly surveilling our environment and the interactions we have for cues of threat or safety.
Cues of threat or safety, largely outside our conscious awareness, can put our bodies in states of defense and reactivity.
Chronic defensive states divert energy into the taxing and hardworking survival mode.
Resources unnecessarily recruited for defense are then not available for feeling good, focusing our attention or experiencing social connection.
The SSP seeks to shift the nervous system out of a chronic defense and into a state of social engagement through ventral vagal activation.
This allows for a more spontaneous experience in human interactions and an enhanced ability to self- regulate and co-regulate.
Three Safe & Sound Protocol Delivery Options:
Virtual | Small Group Experiential | 13 Weeks
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Utilizing the SSP Core playlist, nervous system education and real time somatic support, you will have the weekly opportunity to engage your own nervous system and somatic experience.
The SSP group offers more opportunities for co-regulation, learning from others and the power of healing in community. You will be witnessed, supported and gently challenged as we learn and grow together.
Although everyone will be listening individually and on their own journey, there is dedicated time to share and connect about emergent experiences, as well as integration time built in each week.
You will be provided a 60 page manual/workbook to accompany and enhance the experience.
Week One: Opening our circle, meet and greet, go over materials, nervous system 101, mapping your nervous system activity (3 hours)
Weeks Two - Eleven: Listen to 30 minutes of the SSP Core Playlist in 10 minute increments, each followed by emergent group processing, somatic interventions, support, education and integration (2 hours each week = 20 hours)
Week Twelve: Closing our circle, Share, Reflect and Integrate (3 hours)
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Cohort schedules can be found here.
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As part of a 3 (at minimum) to 4 (at maximum) person cohort, you will meet via Zoom for Twelve 2 Hour weekly sessions (Weeks 1 and 12 will be three hours). 26 hours
Prior to gathering as a group, you will have an individual meet and greet with me via Zoom. During this time we will go over a bit of your history, desired goals and outcomes for your time in this experience, and take time to ask and answer any questions. 30 minutes complimentary
Total: 26 hours
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$1,170 ($45/hr)
30% non-refundable down payment required to hold spot and begin ($350)
Payment plans available
Information and guidance regarding rates and sliding scale availability can be found here.
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Over-the-ear Headphones (non-noise canceling) Example here and here
Laptop with reliable internet access
Zoom account
Smartphone (possibly an adapter for your headphone jack) Example here and here
Unyte-ILS App on Smartphone Google Play | Apple Store
You might also like to have some supportive tools with you while you listen. I’ll share potential tools in your welcome materials.
In this workshop you will:
receive support without deep diving into your trauma history
explore your embodied yes’s and no’s and relationship to the ‘here & now’
explore your adaptive patterning and stored survival stress
build more capacity for connection to self and others
cultivate more access to authentic expression and embodied boundaries
tend to your resilience and develop more flexibility in your nervous system
have dedicated weekly space to nourish yourself in the ways you need
listen to the entirety of the 5 hour Safe & Sound Protocol Core playlist
learn about your nervous system states and physiology
learn and practice somatic resourcing skills and tools
learn how to best support yourself in different states
learn what you need to feel safe
learn how to listen to and translate the signals from your body
become more fluent in the language of your body
Virtual | Individual Experience | 12+ Sessions
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Utilizing the SSP core playlist, nervous system education and real time somatic support you will have the opportunity to engage your own nervous system.
I will provide you with a 60 page manual/workbook to accompany the experience.
The SSP individual experience offers a bit more room to tailor sessions to meet your unique needs.
These sessions are a hybrid of Somatic Experiencing and SSP.
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During weekly sessions until the SSP is complete.
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We will meet via Zoom for 60 minute sessions.
In order to complete the 5 hour Safe & Sound Protocol we may meet as little as 12 sessions, and as many as 20 or more.
This is a titrated and tailored experience. Our pacing will be informed by your nervous system’s capacity and needs.
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~12 - 20+ sessions needed
Information and guidance regarding rates and sliding scale can be found here.
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Over-the-ear Headphones (non-noise canceling) Example here and here
Laptop with reliable internet access
Zoom account
Smartphone (possibly an adapter for your headphone jack) Example here and here
Unyte-ILS App on Smartphone Google Play | Apple Store
You might also like to have some supportive tools with you while you listen. I’ll share potential tools in your welcome materials.
In-Person | Individual Experience | 12+ Sessions
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Utilizing the SSP core playlist, nervous system education and real time somatic support you will have the opportunity to engage your own nervous system.
I will provide you with a 60 page manual/workbook to accompany the experience.
Listening sessions will be done in person, on my treatment table, while receiving co-regulating touch-work/massage.
This is the most passive SSP delivery method, and may be best suited for highly sensitive individuals.
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During weekly sessions until the SSP is complete.
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We will meet via Zoom for 60 minute sessions.
In order to complete the 5 hour Safe & Sound Protocol we may meet as little as 12 sessions, and as many as 20 or more.
This is a titrated and tailored experience. Our pacing will be informed by your nervous system’s capacity and needs.
-
Information and guidance regarding rates and sliding scale can be found here.
-
KN95 or N95 mask (Click here to view current Infectious Illness Policies)
Over-the-ear Headphones (non-noise canceling) Example here and here
Laptop with reliable internet access
Zoom account
Smartphone (possibly an adapter for your headphone jack) Example here and here
Unyte-ILS App on Smartphone Google Play | Apple Store
Through the SSP, the relationship to your authenticity can be restored, deepening your connections to self, others and the world around you.
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The set up will vary depending on which delivery option is best for you, but, overall, we will make our way through the 5 hour SSP Core playlist in a slow and supported way.
As you listen to the music of the SSP, highlighted frequencies send cues of safety to retune your nervous system, which can help you feel more settled, engaged and balanced.
Your nervous system will communicate during the listening sessions, and may show up through sensations, images, emotions, memories, gestures and/or behaviors.
We will take frequent breaks to tend to what emerges in your system. I will provide support via co-regulation, education, exploratory cues, and corrective experiences.
While it may be challenging at times, this therapy is not meant to be hard.
This modality spotlights your somatic experience, and the story your nervous system wants and needs to tell.
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I would love to chat with you over email, phone or zoom to answer your questions, have a chance to connect and help support you having a felt sense of whether this modality is a good fit at this time in your life.
Some folks prefer to begin with a few individual Somatic Experiencing sessions prior to utilizing the SSP in order to build some somatic skills and literacy.
It’s my goal to support your agency, not convince you into something that may not be beneficial at this time.
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Feeling nervous or unsure is completely understandable!
Turning towards our bodies can bring up many feelings we’re not used to, or perhaps, too used to.
Part of somatic healing can be gaining more embodied clarity regarding our yes’s and our no’s.
Consultations are a great way to explore those feelings and decide if this is an appropriate therapy for you at this time in your life.
Reach out if you’d like to connect, or, fill out an application to get started.
