Safe and Sound Protocol: Embrace Ease And Make Room For More Joy In Your Life
Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is one method used in somatic healing. It promotes safety in your nervous system and restores healthy mind-body functioning. SSP does this by using filtered music to stimulate the vagus nerve, which connects the mind and body¹.
Do you feel unsafe or unstable when there’s a minor or nonexistent threat?
You might have physical symptoms that appear whenever you’re faced with a stressful situation. A minor interruption or setback causes your hands to get clammy. Your body tenses, and your heart rate speeds up. You can’t bring yourself to a place of safety and calm. You can’t get to a state that allows you to think clearly and handle the situation.
As a somatic healing practitioner, I use SSP for my clients who struggle to self-regulate. Their emotional and physical responses interfere with their daily activities.
SSP works to introduce flexibility to your nervous system. This makes it easier to navigate minor and major life stressors.
How Does the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) Approach Work?
SSP doesn’t work with just any music. Safe and Sound Protocol music mimics a mother’s voice.
Mothers typically soothe their babies with high-pitched, soft tones. SSP uses music with similar notes meant to signal feelings of safety in your nervous system. It filters out sounds that might feel threatening.
While Safe and Sound Protocol music is specific, everyone’s experience is different.
You might experience the urge to change positions while you’re listening. Sometimes altering your environment is necessary. There’s no way to predict what other thoughts, memories, images, or emotions might come up for you during a session. Your reactions to the music might slowly unfold over time, or you’ll notice a pattern right away.
This is one reason why having a practitioner to guide you through SSP is essential.
Your practitioner can:
Determine how much listening you need in a certain amount of time – listening to too much of the music too fast can have a destabilizing effect.
Be a supportive co-regulator who can help you tune into your physical reactions, including your breathing, posture, and facial changes, to monitor the effects of the music on your nervous system.
Help you incorporate movements and positioning to enhance the benefits of the therapy.
When SSP was first put into practice, we weren't aware of the potential destabilizing effects of going too fast. But now we know the importance of finding the right speed and frequency.
Your nervous system can be retuned, but healing is a process. You learn how to ease in and out of comfort and discomfort. Repeated stimulation through music and co-regulation helps increase nervous system flexibility.
Your somatic healing facilitator should work with you to find your path to healing.
Does Safe and Sound Protocol Work Well With Other Healing Strategies?
Somatic Experiencing (SE) and Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) are complementary. SSP is a purely bottom-up approach to regulating the nervous system. SE is mainly bottom-up, but it’s less passive.
Bottom-up means that the work is body-based and involves the lower parts of the brain. This is where the limbic system and brain stem are.
Somatic practices differ from top-down approaches like mindset work and cognitive behavioral therapy. SSP can help you tune into movement up and down the autonomic ladder.
The autonomic ladder refers to three nervous system states:
Dorsal vagal state (bottom of the ladder)– This is the collapse state, also referred to as the freeze state. In this state, the threat feels imminent, your system slows down, and you become immobilized.
Sympathetic state (middle of the ladder) – This is the “fight” or “flight” state.
Ventral vagal state (top of the ladder) – This state is your “true self”. Here, you feel safe, social, and centered.
The ventral vagal state is where you want to be more often. SSP can help your system accept safety more readily, allowing you to get to this state quicker or not go down as far as you usually do.
Who Benefits From Safe and Sound Protocol?
Polyvagal Theory supports SSP, as well as Somatic Experiencing. SSP and Polyvagal Theory were both developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, a well-known neuroscientist.
The theory explains why Safe and Sound Protocol can help you with a range of problems. It’s based on the interconnectedness of the mind and body.
The body’s responses affect your brain and how you react. It also works the other way around. Your mind can cause severe physical reactions that may not be proportionate to your situation². These disproportionate responses might result from repeated stress or a single traumatic event.
No matter where your disconnect comes from, you can train your nervous system to recognize the difference between perceived and real threats.
Safe and Sound Protocol engages the auditory system. It works with the inner ear muscles to help you tune into higher frequencies. These frequencies are supposed to help you feel safe. But it takes time for your nervous system to recognize feelings of safety.
If you experience symptoms of emotional dysregulation, you can see results from SSP. However, it’s crucial that you find a practitioner that’s right for you.
SSP can benefit you if you experience:
Chronic pain or fatigue
Difficulty sleeping
Problems with focusing
Depression and anxiety
Gut health problems
Other issues with emotional and physical reactivity
It can help individuals with a wide variety of symptoms and conditions.
Safe and Sound Protocol hasn’t been around for a long time. But the results for both children and adults are promising. Recent studies have demonstrated the healing effect SSP has on children and adults with Autism. One study showed improvement in visual and auditory sensitivities. Sensitivities to touch also improved for some³.
Emotional and Physical Healing From Safe and Sound Protocol
We’ve talked about who SSP can help and how it can soothe some symptoms of certain mental and physical health issues. But what does the healing process look like?
For many people, SSP results in:
More social ease and spontaneity – you'll find it easier to build stronger social connections.
Decreased sensory sensitivities – it can be easier to navigate daily challenges and interactions.
Better emotional control – you might experience less severe and less frequent triggers.
Improved cognitive performance – you can focus on critical thinking and less on survival.
SSP has the potential to help you regulate your emotional and physical responses. You can start living your life on your terms instead of getting stuck in fight, flight, freeze, or collapse mode.
Are There Any Side Effects?
While I work closely with my clients to ensure minimal dysregulation, SSP can cause an increase in triggers. This can happen during and after sessions.
But unlike traditional talk therapy, SSP doesn’t require you to talk about your traumatic events or anything that causes you stress. It’s more about being in the present moment with any sensations and feelings that come up.
One study of SSP intervention for patients with Adult Autism Spectrum Disorder showed some mild side effects⁴. They reported:
Headaches
Sleepiness
Fatigue
But there were no severe, long-lasting side effects.
Since Safe and Sound Protocol is meant to increase resiliency in your nervous system, it takes some time for you to feel safe. It’s normal to feel more anxious, irritable, or reactive during and after sessions. It's also normal to feel more relaxed and calm.
Choosing a practitioner who provides you with a baseline feeling of safety helps reduce the chance of side effects.
What Do SSP Sessions Look Like?
I only offer online sessions, but there’s still a lot of flexibility.
For those who choose to listen with me present, all of the following applies. But for those who choose to listen without me either sometimes or every time, we work together closely to figure out what helps their nervous system accept the safety the music offers. I still help them determine their optimal listening conditions as well.
If you choose to listen without me, I recommend having a co-regulator present as you listen. This can even be your pet.
During the session, you can:
Sit still
Walk around
Do gentle yoga
Move in whatever ways feel comfortable
Sit and move around on an exercise ball
Cuddle up under a blanket or hug a pillow
I’m here to support you by observing your responses to the Safe and Sound Protocol music. I’ll also offer ideas for movement and help you tune into what your body might need based on your reactions.
Our focus is safe before sound.
Since safety is the treatment, I work with you to bring you back to safety when it doesn’t feel present. This is only one of the benefits of co-regulation. Having a supportive presence who offers warmth and empathy when you're experiencing unpleasant sensations and thoughts can make all the difference. Getting to share your pleasant emotions when SSP brings you feelings of calm and joy also has a healing effect.
Do you think SSP might be a good fit for you? Let's discuss my approach with my clients to help you make an informed decision.
How SSP Has Helped My Clients
I offer SSP as a standalone service or as an add-on to somatic therapy.
Many of my clients request SSP as part of their somatic sessions, which also include Somatic Experiencing. Others come to me only for SSP.
As I mentioned above, some choose to do SSP with me in individual somatic sessions, while others listen independently. Most clients choose a hybrid model, listening with and without me.
This process can help your mind and body recognize that you are safe, as well as help you cultivate a healthy mind-body connection. You don't have to listen with me present to see these benefits.
Clients who come to me for SSP only usually work with another professional for talk or somatic therapy, as SSP isn't meant to be a stand-alone therapy. One of the benefits of SSP is that it can help increase the progress of other therapies. When we added SSP later in the healing process, my clients noticed more significant shifts in their nervous system.
So, if you’re struggling to get out of survival mode and want to experience:
Clearer thinking in stressful situations or while experiencing physical pain
More connectivity with others
Less emotional reactivity
I encourage you to get in touch with me.
What we learn about your nervous system in somatic healing sessions can inform our approach to your SSP listening sessions. It can shine a light on your dysregulation because your nervous system might not welcome the safety that SSP offers right away.
From there, we can work on soothing your overwhelming responses and tuning into what is needed to help prevent them. You might need additional support outside of SSP, but it can be a great place to start if your mind-body connection needs healing.
So, if you’re struggling to get out of survival mode and into a state of fulfillment and ease, get in touch.
Disclaimer: While I believe in the services on my website, I never make any guarantees. Everyone's health and healing experiences are unique and what works for someone else might not work for you. Please reach out if you have any questions.