Safe & Sound Protocol

Safe & Sound Protocol helps with many sensory arousal issues. I offer SSP to help clients who especially struggle to feel safe in their body & experience auditory over-arousal:

  • Feeling easily irritated by sounds that others don't seem to mind or even notice

  • Difficulty editing out background noise either at home or in public places

  • Light or alert sleep, sounds cause interruption in sleep regularly or difficulty reaching deep sleep/restful sleep

  • Incidence of an accident or traumatic event & haven't been able to feel a sense of safety since the event happened​

  • Many attributes associated with Autism

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SAFE & SOUND PROTOCOL FROM THE CREATORS

SSP can be offered in 2 formats: listening in-session (in person or online video sessions) or solo-listening with regular check-ins.

If you are interested in doing the SSP, you must first schedule a first session, so we can talk through your needs an if the SSP is a good fit for you.

Pricing for the SSP varies depending on how we schedule.

How long it takes to complete the SSP also depends on your delivery needs…as little as 3 weeks up to 3 months.

Once we’re scheduled…instructions:

Preparing for the Safe & Sound Protocol?

Step One:

I will send you an invite via the Unyte website. You will use this link to set-up your account login. This is the account you will use for solo-listening.

Step Two:

For solo-listening, you’ll need your own headphones that cover your entire ear. If you are using noise-cancelling headphones, they need to have a feature to turn off the NC function. Your headphones need to be able to connect with your phone by bluetooth or by cord.

Step Three:

Download the Unyte App (links provided below) to your phone.

Step Four:

Sample the playlists & choose which one you want to use for your listening. This playlist will be set for when you’re ready to do SSP Core.

notes & resources

Once we begin the SSP Core listening sessions, each session will curated to your nervous system. If you are listening with me in-session, we will look for signs of overwhelm in the nervous system & pause as needed. For solo-listening sessions, we will go over the guidelines for what you should look for, but, generally you will listen for about 10 minutes at at time every 1-3 days. Nighttime is a good time to listen if the SSP makes you feel tired.

When listening at the office, you'll want to wear comfortable clothes that do not constrict your breathing (such as what you would wear to a yoga class) optionally you can bring snacks, hydration, socks so you can take your shoes off & anything else that helps you feel cozy & relaxed. Headphones will be provided when you're at the office.

When solo-listening, equally, you’ll want to make yourself comfortable. It can be nice to have a “safe other” nearby, which includes a cuddly pet or being in nature is also nice. You’ll want a spot that is quiet (natural sounds are ok, within reason) & you will not be interrupted for the maximum time you want to try to listen. Some movement is fine, but sitting, laying down, relaxing is preferred…not “doing.” Also, you can engage quiet activities as long as they don’t involve screens or reading.

​SSP impacts people in all different ways, so it's difficult to name all the things you may experience or list all possibilities here. Generally, in session you may feel tired, agitated, tense, etc. Sometimes these side-effects may only be noticeable the day after listening, so engage your awareness of what arises for you.

What you’ll need: 

1-Over-the-ear headphones that are NOT noise-cancelling or the NC feature can be turned off that you can connect with your cell phone (I can provide these for in-office listening)

2-Cell phone with SSP app downloaded and set to airplane mode (I provide this for in-office listening)

There are 3 Levels to the Safe & Sound Protocol:  Connect, Core & Balance

Connect is unfiltered, unaltered music. Connect is for getting acclimated to the playlist(s) as well as getting used to listening with over-the-ear-headphones.  Connect is optional, but recommended to begin to create safety in relationship to the music. Predictability can be beneficial to the nervous system. The playlists for Connect are the same as Core & Balance. YOU CAN LISTEN TO CONNECT TO GET TO KNOW THE PLAYLISTS…IT IS OPTIONAL.

Core is the heart of SSP & is 5 hours of filtered music using algorithms to modulate the frequencies and acoustic energy of the music to progressively re-tune the ear & nervous system to the frequencies of the human voice. Core is the part of SSP that we must curate to your needs & either will take place together/in-session or solo-listening at a slow pace (10 minutes at at time, for example). The amount of listening per session will be determined by your response to SSP. Core is highly customizable, but needs to be listened to sequentially.

Balance is a pathway that can be used to extend and integrate the gains of the SSP & potentially act as a state stabilizer after completing Core. It is optional & can be delivered self-paced for at-home listening. Balance has the same 5 hour playlist(s), but does not need to be listened to sequentially as Core does. BALANCE IS OPTIONAL.