Music has the power to heal.

Regulate your nervous system with the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)

The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP), was designed by Dr. Stephen Porges, a neuroscientist and researcher known for developing “Polyvagal Theory,” which explains how our nervous system responds to cues of safety, stress, and danger (learn more below). Rooted in Polyvagal Theory, SSP works by using specially filtered music to engage and guide your nervous system toward the calm, connected, and safe state where we can feel present, regulated, and able to engage with others.

The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is an evidence-based listening therapy that involves listening to specially filtered music through over-the-ear headphones for a total of five hours, broken into short, manageable sessions over several weeks/months. The music is carefully filtered to support the parts of the nervous system involved in feeling safe, staying calm and regulated, paying attention to voices, connecting with others. Learn more about the SSP.

What to expect from the SSP?

As SSP engages your nervous system, you may notice changes such as feeling calmer, more grounded, or more connected, improved sleep, increased sensory tolerance, improved stress tolerance, and better emotional regulation. Additionally, SSP has been shown to support improvements in:

  • Depression

  • Anxiety

  • Stress

  • Chronic pain

  • Social connection

  • Sound sensitivity

  • Learning difficulties

  • Focus and resilience

  • Trauma responses

  • As a certified SSP facilitator, my role is to guide your listening pace, co-regulate in session, and monitor your progress outside of sessions. Individual sessions are typically 45 minutes and include a check-in, nervous system mapping, and regulating exercises, and short listening segments (5-30 minutes) of your chosen SSP Playlist.

    Sessions take place in my office (Ridgefield, CT) or virtually while you’re at home. Listening is optimized with over-ear, wired headphones and many people listen while resting, drawing, folding laundry, playing with puzzles or other quiet activities. Progress is individualized and listening may be slowed, paused, or adjusted at any time based on how you’re feeling.

  • You’ll need over-the-ear headphones, a smart-phone or tablet to download the Unyte app and a safe, calm place to listen. Sessions can be done in person (Ridgefield, CT) or virtually.

  • As SSP engages your nervous system, people may notice changes such as feeling calmer, more grounded, or more connected, improved sleep, increased sensory tolerance, improved emotional regulation, and better stress tolerance. SSP graduates show decreased symptoms of depression, anxiety, chronic pain, and trauma responses. Benefits vary from person to person and cannot be guaranteed. Some graduates of SSP notice benefits that continue to progress over time, even after finishing the 5 hour program.

  • While SSP is generally well tolerated, potential risks include: temporary nervous system activation or adjustment responses, such as tiredness, headaches, digestive changes, emotional release, or a brief increase in anxiety or restlessness. These responses are usually short-term and help guide pacing, but anything concerning should be shared right away.

    SSP is appropriate for everyone at all times. SSP requires a safe environment for listening. Additionally, SSP is not recommended for people who experience (or have a history of) seizures, dissociative disorders, psychosis, take anti-psychotic medications, or are actively self-harming, and actively reporting thoughts of suicide. Additionally, people who experience Tinnitus, have Structural Ear Conditions (e.g. perforated or ruptured eardrum, stapedectomy, tympanostomy tubes), or wear assistive hearing devices may require additional supports with their medical providers.

  • SSP is focused on nervous system regulation through guided listening, and participation does not require establishing a therapy relationship. SSP can be used as a stand-alone service or alongside talk therapy, but it does not require ongoing talk therapy to participate. You don’t have to talk, analyze, or process anything while listening.

  • I offer customized packages for:

    • Adults with established supports (e.g. already seeing a therapist, solid regulation skills)

    • Adults with vulnerable nervous systems

    • Adults with chronic health conditions

    • Families (Parents & Children, and/or Couples)

    • Groups

    Please contact me to schedule a free 30-minute call.

  • While I can’t promise specific outcomes, I can tell you that I believe in the SSP enough to get certified! Our nervous system is wired to respond to sound. If this sounds too good to be true, just think about how your body responds to music and sound. Certain sounds make your body go on high-alert (a baby’s cry) while other sounds cue danger and make the hair on our neck stand up (think of a Horror movie’s soundtrack). Other sounds are soothing and calming (your calm-down playlist) and other rhythms energize us (your workout playlist) and get us moving. Music has the power to shape how we feel and now we have neuroscientists helping us tune into music for healing.

  • Learn more about the SSP or download the brochure.

Insight, alone, isn’t always enough to interrupt the grip of anxiety, depression, trauma, and/or chronic pain. Talk therapy is not always enough to regulate a chronically dysregulated nervous system. This is why I pursued training and certification in the SSP. SSP can be integrated into therapy with my clients in California and Connecticut. SSP is also available as a stand-alone service to people, virtually, from anywhere in the world.

Understanding the Nervous System

  • The nervous system is our body’s control and communication system. The autonomic nervous system controls involuntary bodily functions (heart rate, breathing, digestion, and blood pressure) and is constantly collecting information from inside your body (neuroception) and monitoring the world around you to decide whether you are safe or need protection. The nervous system then decides how to respond — often without you even noticing.

    Our nervous system is always working to keep us safe — there’s no “bad” state. These responses are automatic and in a world where we are bombarded by stress, trauma, and devastating news — both personally and globally - our nervous systems can get stuck in alert or shutdown state, which can make it hard to feel calm or connected. This is not a sign of weakness — it’s your body protecting you.

  • Polyvagal Theory explains how our nervous system affects our emotions, behavior, and ability to connect with others.

    It describes three main states of our nervous system: a calm, connected state where we feel safe and engaged, an alert or protective state where we feel on edge or stressed, and a shutdown state where we feel numb, exhausted, or disconnected. These states happen automatically to keep us safe, and our nervous system can move between them depending on what’s happening around us.

    Our nervous system is always working to keep us safe — there’s no “bad” state. These responses are automatic and in a world where we are bombarded by stress, trauma, and devastating news — both personally and globally — our nervous systems can get stuck in alert or shutdown state, which makes it hard to feel calm or connected. This is not a sign of weakness — it’s your body protecting you.

  • Neuroception of Safety: our nervous system feels safe and receives cues of safety from our body, our environment, and the people around us and our nervous system is able to “rest and digest.” When our nervous system feels safe, our parasympathetic nervous system is activated and people feel calm, focused, and open to connection. In this state people

    • feel present and grounded

    • think clearly

    • feel open to learning

    • problem-solve

    • connect socially

    • feel more relaxed

  • Neuroception of Danger: our nervous system receives cues of stress from our body, the environment, and people around us and our nervous system goes “on alert.” In this state, people often experience anxiety, stress, irritability, and/or sensitivity to sound and stress. Our sympathetic nervous system is activated and our flight-fight-freeze-fawn survival responses are triggered to protect us from whatever our nervous system perceives as a threat. In this state, people may feel:

    • stressed and on high alert (anxious and sensitive)

    • defensive (taking things personally)

    • difficulty focusing (racing thoughts, easily distracted, overwhelmed)

    • difficulty relaxing (muscle tension, fidgeting, restless legs)

  • Neuroception of Life-Threat: our nervous system is overwhelmed by cues of danger from our body, the environment, and people around us, our nervous system becomes immobilized. When stress feels chronically unmanageable, people may experience disconnection, withdrawal, and/or shutdown, which might look like panic attacks, fainting, or dissociating. In this state, our body may resort to conserving energy by:

    • numbing and/or dissociating

    • immobilizing from exhaustion or burnt-out

    • disconnecting or disengaging socially

    • withdrawing or avoiding responsibilities

This information includes proprietary content about the Safe and Sound Protocol, used with permission from Unyte Health Inc. — leading provider of evidence-based listening therapies for nervous system regulation. Image and videos courtesy of Unyte Health. Learn more about the Safe and Sound Protocol.