Safe and Sound Protocol
The Safe and Sound Protocol is a gentle, yet powerful, supplement to therapy.
It’s a listening intervention that works on the nervous system to support a greater sense of calm and safety.
What is the Safe and Sound (SSP) protocol?
It’s an evidenced-based, non-invasive, listening practice that uses specially modified music. The music targets nerves within the inner ear connected to the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is the bundle of nerves that is involved in our autonomic responses of fight, flight, freeze and shutdown during moments of stress, distress and trauma.
Through his research Dr. Stephen Porges, found that stimulating these auditory nerves could provide a number of benefits such as improved:
emotional regulation
social engagement,
stress management and
auditory sensitivity.
The Safe and Sound Protocol research indicates benefits may be noted for people dealing with the following:
anxiety
PTSD or trauma
emotional or social challenges
acute stress
difficulty focusing
auditory sensitivities
What does the Safe and Sound protocol look like ?
The SSP consists of working with a therapist to support listening to 5 hours of progressively processed music adjusted to a pace that works for you and your nervous system. The maximum listening per day is 30 minutes.
In practice, it can feel a lot like simply listening to music for a period of time but it’s more than that.
Often tools in mental health therapy, require us to actively do or think something. In the SSP, the music is actively working on your auditory (listening) system, while in the background we actively remain aware of your nervous system’s response to it.
For more information: https://integratedlistening.com/ssp-safe-sound-protocol/
“If you want to improve the world, start by making people feel safe.”
— Dr. Stephen Porges, Founder of Polyvagal Theory, Creator of the Safe and Sound Protocol.