Safe & Sound Protocol

The SSP is an Acoustic Vagal Stimulator, designed to stimulate nervous system regulation by exercising and systematically challenging the auditory (hearing) system with specifically processed music through a 5-hour listening intervention. This is achieved through specially filtered music that trains your neural network associated with listening to focus on the frequency range of the human voice. What you hear, and how you hear it, influences how your body responds.

The Vagus nerve is the longest and most complex of the cranial nerves. It runs from your brain, through your face and thorax, to your abdomen. By stimulating your vagus nerve, you can send a message to your body that it’s time to relax and de-stress, which leads to long-term improvements in mood, wellbeing and resilience.

Here’s how it works.

You look, speak and listen with the same system. When the voice changes, the body responds. Think of how a baby or a pet responds to your voice. As you learn to focus on the sound frequencies of human speech through the SSP program, your vagus nerve becomes stimulated and the state of feeling safer and calmer becomes accessible.

A set of headphones attached to your phone or iPod plays specially treated music designed to train your ear muscles to perceive the human voice the way they are supposed to, and to tune out irrelevant frequencies. This helps prime your nervous system by exposing it to different sound frequencies.

Listening to these playlists through over-the-ear headphones helps the nervous system to more readily achieve balance. Included in the playlists are popular tracks by greats like The Beatles, Pharrell Williams, U2, Katrina and the Waves, Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, and many more! If you don’t like words, there is a classical version available too. Plus, we’ve just released a cool, laid-back instrumental playlist!

In many people with developmental disorders and trauma backgrounds, the way they perceive the human voice has been altered. This creates a vicious circle where their ears don’t perceive the tone properly and so the nervous system gets messages telling the body to be tense and uptight (fight/flight/freeze).

When your body hears the human voice how it’s supposed to sound (soothing and not abrasive), you start to feel calmer and more engaged in social interactions. This also allows you to be more readily calmed by others, prevents anxiety and meltdowns from social stimulation, and reduces hypersensitivity to sounds – a common feature of autism and PTSD in particular.

The SSP uses music that you may already be familiar with. The music is filtered through an algorithm that enhances intonation changes within the frequency range of the human voice, training the auditory processing system to attune to cues of safety.

A classical playlist is also available as a non-vocal, trauma-sensitive and accessible alternative that maintains the essential elements and original algorithms of the SSP.

Listening sessions vary, depending on information gleaned from intake assessments and client conversations.

As the filtration of the main SSP program is dynamic and progressive, it is important to listen in order and not repeat any sections without my guidance.

In most cases, light movement, breathing exercises, and drawing, coloring or puzzle activities are recommended. High-intensity exercise, cognitively demanding tasks, and video games or computer work are generally not recommended.

1. The SSP increased vagal regulation of the heart and normalized
   auditory processing in children with ASD. – Read more here
2. The SSP enhanced social behavior in children with ASD. – Read more here
3. Using the SSP with children who have experienced
   trauma. Funded by the Australian Childhood Foundation. – Read more
   here
4. Assessing the effects of the SSP on behavioral regulation in
   children and adults with ADD/ADHD. In cooperation with: ADD
   Centre and Biofeedback Institute of Toronto. – Read more here
5. Assessing the effects of the SSP on improvement of social and
   regulation behaviors in individuals with PWS.  In addition, a new
   methodology for collecting and evaluating vocal samples for
   analyses of prosody will be assessed. – Read more here
6. Determining if the SSP can decrease the atypical features of the
   Social Engagement System in adolescents and young adults
   with Prader Willi Syndrome. In cooperation with the Latham
   Centers School in Brewster, Massachusetts. – Read more here
7. Examining the effects of the SSP on chronic pain in older
   adults. In cooperation with the Meadowood Retirement Community
   in Bloomington, Indiana. – Read more here