Safe & Sound Protocol

are you suffering from chronic pain, migraines or fibromyalgia?

do you struggle with sensory sensitivities or difficulty sleeping?

Experience the transformative power of feeling safe with the Safe & Sound Protocol.

The Safe & Sound Protocol (SSP) is a gentle five day auditory intervention designed to calm the autonomic nervous system by stimulating the vagus nerve through the middle ear. This non-invasive treatment involves listening to specific filtered musical frequencies to progressively train the auditory pathways over a consecutive 5 day period. The SSP has been proven to re-tune the nervous system to introduce a state of safety and improved self-regulation.

Designed by Dr. Steven Porges and based on the Polyvagal Theory, the SSP is a patented auditory vagal nerve stimulation treatment derived from nearly four decades of research on the relationship between the autonomic nervous system and social-emotional processes.

$125 per 75 minute session. 5 consecutive daily sessions required.

For complex conditions, the SSP can be repeated as often as every 3 months.

If you have a trauma history, we require you to be established with a licensed therapist for support during your healing.

Services offered by Melissa & Carolyn.

The Polyvagal Theory

The Polyvagal Theory outlines three divisions in our autonomic nervous system that operate within a heirarchy designed to ensure our survival: (1) freeze, (2) fight/flight, (3) safe/social.

When faced with the fear of life threat, our dorsal vagal “freeze” response is a function that reflexively kicks in to allow the body to survive the experience, conserve energy and immobilize, dissociate, disconnect and even faint.

When faced with danger, our sympathetic nervous system “fight/flight” response overrides the “freeze” response and automatically mobilizes our body for action to defend in anger or escape in fear.

When we sense and perceive safety, our ventral vagal “safe and social” response emerges and physiologically overrides both the “fight/flight” and “freeze circuits”. This response shifts our physiology to a more relaxed state, promoting health, restoration and well-being, as well as allowing us to effectively form bonds and feel socially connected through a mutual exchange of facial expressions, speech and listening to the higher frequency sounds of the human voice.

what does sound have to do with danger and safety?

When the nervous system senses danger, the middle ear muscles relax in order to perceive the lower frequency sounds of predators (growling, stomping feet, rumbling, etc.). The autonomic nervous system involuntarily and reflexively responds to cues of threat, danger and safety, without our conscious thought, in order to successfully ensure our survival. This is something to celebrate! But, sometimes difficult or traumatic life experiences can overwhelm our nervous system, resulting in maladaptive responses to danger cues, even when the actual danger has gone.

When the nervous system is held in a perpetual state of defense and protection, it can contribute to uncomfortable symptoms such as chronic pain, anxiety, depression, a sense of disconnection to others, difficulty focusing, irritability, hypersensitivity to sound, light, smell, taste or texture, digestive disturbances, and ongoing sleep difficulties.

When the actual danger has gone, what can we do to help the nervous system shift out of a maladaptive state of defense and protection, and back into a state of safety and social engagement?

the safe & sound protocol: a portal into a sense of safety

Since the ventral vagus nerves and facial nerves supply the middle ear muscles, the Safe & Sound Protocol is a direct portal into gently activating the social engagement system. Exercising the middle ear muscles can reduce auditory hypersensitivities and improve the ability to listen and to attend to human speech. The five day protocol progressively stimulates the natural biological rhythms of homeostasis, while also challenging the nervous system to self-regulate. This proven method gently assists the nervous system in returning back to a sense of safety, restoring a sense of health, well-being, ease and joy!

Following successful completion of the program, individuals often experience improved attention and focus in every day life, a calm emotional and physiological state, and an enhanced ability to engage socially. The SSP provides a neural platform for neuroplasticity, allowing all other forms of therapy to become more effective. When the nervous system shifts out of a state of defense and into a state of safety and social connection, many people experience a substantial reduction in pain, tension, anxiety, as well as improved sleep!

Each 75 minute session includes one hour of listening to progressions of filtered and gated musical sounds in a quiet room with headphones, supported by activities that encourage neural regulation. Five consecutive daily sessions are required. If more than one day is skipped, the protocol must start over from the beginning.

We recommend you schedule your SSP sessions during a five day time-frame when you can provide yourself with nurturing self-care and quiet time, exercise and movement for your body, as well as opportunities for calm social face-to-face interactions. This will support your nervous system to effectively re-tune over the course of the 5 day treatment, as well as ensure successful integration over the following 4 to 6 weeks.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS ARE SAYING

TERESA’S EXPERIENCE

“I had high anxiety and panic that used to be debilitating to the point of freezing. I would frequently cry from the anxiety.  I also had depressive episodes which would leave me bedridden for days.  I couldn’t focus enough to stay on track, or stay up to speed with conversation, and couldn’t take notes. 

After the SSP treatments, I’m not waking up with intense anxiety.  The depression is better too. I’m depressed less often, and I can come out of depression much more quickly and easily.  I have a lot more energy for exercise, too.  I notice myself smiling more, and I feel happier.  My friends and family have noticed a twinkle in my eyes.  Socializing is much more enjoyable.  Now, during work meetings, I can follow along, take notes, participate, ask questions, give ideas and advice.  I’m surprised at how profound the SSP treatments were.  The changes are huge.  It was so beneficial.  I still have a way to go, but I now believe I can get there!”

~Teresa K.

bob’s experience

“Something felt as if I had been changed from within. Looking back I would now describe it as before the SSP sessions as being stuck in frozen ice… unable to move forward, in a sense being mentally paralyzed. So now I feel freed from mental frozen waters. I felt compassion and expertise during all of our meetings and conversations. Thank you so much!”

ewan’s experience

“I’ve spent a lifetime running away from my mind… or avoiding my mind, and to have that gift of quietness, to have that gift of enjoying my mind,… to be present with my mind… is truly amazing.”

– Ewan