Safe & Sound Protocol
What is the SSP?
The SSP is rooted in Polyvagal Theory, which has studied the relationship between sense information, the fight-or-flight response, and our day-to-day anxieties for over 20 years. This theory looks into how the vagus nerve mediates our fight-or-flight response by bringing sense information up to the brain. Continuous input of unsafe signals can over-tune our nervous system to be consistently on-guard and turn down the volume on signals inviting calm, peace, or relaxation.
Those signals of safety are where the SSP focuses. Using filtered and unfiltered music, the SSP helps the ear and brain to re-attune to signals of safety and calm, and thereby reduce anxiety, physiological activation, and help re-train the emotional muscle memory. By training the body from the bottom-up, it supports active efforts to learn new behaviors. To achieve this, the SSP is a gradual course of varying stimuli to retrain the nervous system, using a maximum of 30-minute intervals each day.
The SSP is a unique, bottom-up intervention that works on the passive groundwork of the nervous system. While most mental health therapy works on the active systems of Learning and Behavior, the SSP works directly with the senses and body awareness to bring about change at the nervous system’s foundation. Together with therapy, the SSP allows for active and passive support towards your mental health goals.
The Center uses the SSP in conjunction with ongoing therapy to help in managing symptoms of anxiety, depression, difficulty concentrating, and difficulty expressing emotions. In cases of trauma, the SSP can help in reducing reactivity and hypervigilance while increasing the ability to receive signals of safety and relax.
Who is it for?
Through supporting new pathways in the nervous system and helping the individual tune in to signals of safety, the SSP works to help quiet the processes which take up mental and emotional bandwidth. The SSP is designed to enhance ongoing mental health treatment by improving abilities to manage social and emotional difficulties, reducing auditory sensitivities, increasing resilience against trauma- and anxiety-related stressors, and improving focus and engagement. Because the SSP works from the bottom up, the changes can be subtle and it may take time for the body to adjust to unfamiliar feelings of security and relaxation.
The process of helping your system to unlearn old patterns can be quite uncomfortable. Much like physical therapy, the SSP works to stretch and exercise areas of the body that may be storing emotional muscle memory. This can produce a range of outcomes. For some, it allows those areas to relax and calm, resulting in a greater sense of peace and comfort in being in one’s body or in the present moment. For others, it brings those stored emotions to the surface and additional support is needed to help process unresolved experiences.
Risks & Benefits
If you are interested in learning more about the SSP, don’t hesitate to Contact Us.
Also, check out Unyte for more information and case examples of the SSP in action.