Stephen Porges designed the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) to reduce help stress and sensitivity to sound. At first the SSP was used only with people who had learning difficulties. During the 20 years of research, Porges discovered SSP can also be used to treat anxiety, stress and emotional resilience in general.

The Safe and Sound Protocol helps the body to feel safe and more at ease; when we are this state, we feel like connecting to other people, and we think clearer. The protocol reduces stress and auditory sensitivity, it also improves social engagement and emotional resilience

How Does the Safe and Sound Protocol Work?

The Safe and Sound Protocol SSP includes total five hours of listening.  At Tranquillo Place we are offering this remotely over a minimum of 10 consecutive days. Participants set the pace, and with our practitioners’ support, you design the optimal way to complete your SSP program. Client’s report they are slowing down more often, feeling less stressed and calmer.

The SSP sessions are done at home, all you need is a smart-phone and over-ear headphones, we provide the program via an app. During the SSP sessions, you will listen to specially engineered prosodic vocal music. At first, they might sound odd and a bit quiet. The music follows a limited range of frequencies that signal your nervous system you are safe and your body can return to a state of safety.

The filtered music trains the middle ear muscles to focus in on the frequency envelope of human speech. The prosodic sounds open the portal to social engagement, this improves the way we interpret sounds and the voice fluctuations calm the nervous system.

The SSP is a research-based therapy that shows significant results in the following areas:

• Anxiety and trauma related challenges
• Auditory sensitiveness
• Stressors that impact social engagement
• Social and emotional difficulties
• Attention difficulties

The Safe and Sound Protocol and Polyvagal Theory

To explain the theory behind the safe and sound protocol in a few words, SSP tells the body “you are safe”. SSP does this through specially engineered music. Throughout the program, the music teaches your nervous system to shift states. So, if you struggle with anxiety, stress or have survived trauma, the protocol might help. In these situations the body is too often in a state of alertness. As a consequence, our body’s ‘default’ state might be one of (high) alertness or even dissociation. When we try to recover, SSP can help to teach our body to make ‘rest and digest‘ our new normal.

If you’re going through therapy to let go of the past and embrace the future, SSP can help your body to feel safe again. The Safe and Sound Protocol is a complementary therapy. Therefore, you can perfectly combine it with more traditional therapy. If you want to read more on Polyvagal theory and sound therapy, read all about it here.

Why the Safe and Sound Protocol?

Improve focus and attention with SSP

We often get distracted by sounds around us. The SSP activates the neural network in charge of listening and reduces sensitivity to sound. By training what we pay attention to, we can improve focus and attention.

Improve memory with SSP

When we feel stressed or anxious, we struggle to think clearly. Our body struggles to access higher cognitive functions. The Safe and Sound Protocol balances your physiological and emotional state, making it easier to learn and recollect things.

Reduce auditory sensitivity with SSP

The protocol trains our ear to pay attention to the important things, and focus less on distractions. When we are sensitive to background noise, it can make it more difficult to listen, or even to just be in a good mood. The protocol trains the ear to reduce background and harmful noises. It further helps us pay attention to the sounds that matters, like the voices of the people we care about.

Enhance emotional resilience with SSP

Through direct stimulation of the nervous system, SSP balances the body’s physiology. The protocol guides us back to a state of rest and digest where we have the space to regulate our emotions and better control our impulses.

We’ll Be With You Every Step of the Way

Before we start SSP, you’ll be invited to fill in some questionnaires. This helps us to get an idea how to best help you. Afterwards, your answers can also be used to see how you have improved with SSP over time.

You’ll check in with us whilst you progress through the SSP. You might be asked what you have noticed, any changes and invited to describe your experience of the session. We encourage you to keep track of how you are feeling throughout the sessions, before and after. And if you need any help, or have any questions, we’ll be with you every step of the way.

After SSP, we’ll evaluate how you have improved. In order to consolidate your progress, you might be invited to repeat the SSP again three months after the first time. Throughout the whole process, you can continue any other form of therapy. If you are not currently doing any other form of therapy, you can always talk to us if anything might come up during the sessions.

Read more on our website here.

If you are interested and would like to know more on SSP, including the fee for the program, please contact us.

info@tranquilloplace.com