Rebecca Foxx, LCSW-R
Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy & Counseling
Glens Falls, NY
Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)
“If you want to improve the world, start by making people feel safer.”
―Stephen Porges, PhD
About the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)
The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is an evidence-based music listening therapy. The SSP is designed to activate a part of the human nervous system, known as the social engagement system. When this system is online, we experience a physiological state of safety, from which we can experience feelings of well-being, social connection, growth and learning.
The SSP is a practical application of Polyvagal Theory, known as “the science of safety”, which states that the Nervous System has three response pathways: Sympathetic (fight/flight), Dorsal (shut down and collapse), and Ventral (regulation, safety and social engagement). These pathways are activated through a process known as “Neuroception” in which we detect information within our bodies, from the world around us, and through our connection with others. This process happens beneath our conscious awareness.
The SSP uses specially filtered music to acoustically stimulate the vagus nerve, helping to shift the nervous system out of chronic states of defense, allowing us to access a state of safety. Our nervous system state impacts how we think, feel and connect with others. By experiencing movement through physiological states, the autonomic nervous system may be re-tuned towards more connection and resilience, empowering our ability to respond to life’s challenges.
The SSP is a brief therapy intervention and involves listening to specially filtered music through headphones.
- The protocol will take you through a total of 5 hours of the specially filtered music, which are broken up into shorter listening sessions, according to an individualized plan that we will make together.
- The plan may be to listen daily for 5 consecutive days, though more likely, it may consist of shorter listening sessions, spread out over a greater number of days. The pace and duration of listening sessions is determined by what supports your unique nervous system.
- The listening sessions will be delivered through a combination of independent listening sessions and remote co-listening sessions together with me, Rebecca Foxx, LCSW-R & Certified SSP provider.
- We will stay in communication between co-listening sessions via text and/or emails to track how your nervous system is responding to your independent listening sessions, to support your process, and to collaborate around adjustments to the listening plan as needed.
The SSP is a research-based intervention which has shown significant beneficial results for individuals coping with:
- Trauma
- Anxiety
- Sensory processing differences and Auditory sensitivities
- Inattention and Hyperactivity (ADD/ADHD)
- Sleep problems
- Chronic pain
- Social and relational challenges
The SSP is often used in conjunction with other therapies to help accelerate and enhance therapeutic outcomes!
When the nervous system is dysregulated, it may create challenges in the process of working towards one's therapy goals, despite one's deepest intentions to do so. The SSP works great as an adjunct to other therapies that you may already be engaged in, as it calms the physiological and emotional state, allowing the body to feel safe enough to connect interpersonally and engage more comfortably in other therapy modalities. For this reason, I offer the option of clients completing the SSP with me, while attending concurrent treatment with an outside primary therapist - this means you can continue to see your primary therapist while you are working through the SSP with me.
The SSP can also be integrated into your long-term therapy work. This provides opportunities for co-regulation, support in noticing and naming in-the-moment autonomic state shifts (which supports the process of befriending one's nervous system), support with grounding and resourcing, opportunities to somatically process and release autonomic survival energy as it arises, and to integrate new adaptive patterns.
The SSP is a "passive" therapy, meaning that there is nothing required of the client other than to listen to, or receive the music. You can learn more about the science of how the SSP works below.
Highlights of the SSP
● A five-hour auditory intervention developed and patented by Dr. Stephen Porges, author of the Polyvagal Theory.
● Activates the client’s social engagement system, helping to accelerate and enhance therapeutic outcomes.
● Supports physiological state regulation, allowing for greater resilience.
Polyvagal Theory: the Science of Feeling Safe
Developed by world-renowned researcher, Dr. Stephen Porges, Polyvagal Theory focuses on what is happening in the body and the nervous system, and explains how our sense of safety, danger or life-threat can impact our behavior. Understanding Polyvagal Theory gives us a scientific framework that can be applied through physiological, or “bottom-up” therapies, to help change and improve how we feel, think and connect with others. It is through shifting our physiological state, that we shift our emotional, cognitive, behavioral responses.
Watch this video on Polyvagal Theory, the science of feeling safe:
The Science behind how the SSP works:
The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is an evidence-based therapeutic program created by Dr. Stephen Porges and is designed to reset the nervous system and return it to safety.
Music has a profound impact on our wellbeing. It can excite and energize us and it can also calm and soothe us. The SSP transmits cues of safety through specific frequencies, which can impact our autonomic state.
Similar to a massage acting on muscles of the body, sound vibrations activate the auditory neural network, including a branch of the vagus nerve.
As the vagus nerve is stimulated, signals are sent to our nervous system telling it to relax and let go of tension. With relaxation, our brain and body functions can improve.
The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) influences the nervous system through the auditory portal. Based on hierarchical recruitment of the autonomic nervous system, the SSP trains the middle ear muscles to tune into cues of safety signaled by frequencies of the human voice, which stimulates the social engagement system through the neural network associated with listening.
Watch this video on the impact of trauma and stress on the Autonomic Nervous System:
SSP Pricing
Package Options:
Both packages include the following:
- Preparation and individualized planning for the SSP, including psychoeducation, mapping your Autonomic Nervous System (an activity in which you will learn to identify the cues and patterns of your unique autonomic nervous system), developing grounding/resourcing skills, and guidance for the timing and pacing of the SSP.
- A 3 Month subscription to the Unyte application, which is where you will access the SSP.
- Provider Monitoring and Support between co-listening sessions (via text and email).
Option 1 - Psychotherapy Client - $449.00:
This package is for those who attend regularly scheduled psychotherapy sessions with me. In this case, the cost of co-listening sessions is woven into the cost of your psychotherapy hour with me and therefore, I do not charge an additional fee for the co-listening session time associated with the SSP (your usual psychotherapy rate will apply when we meet). This package includes a 3-month* subscription to the Unyte application, where you will access the specially filtered music, as well as the time between sessions associated with my monitoring and supporting your process.
Option 2 - Exclusively SSP - $789.00:
This package is a good fit for those who wish to receive the SSP as an adjunct to other healing work or therapy that they are receiving from an outside provider. It is also a good way to begin working with me when I have a wait list for direct psychotherapy clients. This package includes the cost of a 1-hour initial intake assessment, a one 1-hour initial co-listening session, monitoring and support between sessions, a 30 minute follow-up session (scheduled approximately 4 weeks after you complete the SSP), and a 3-month* subscription to the Unyte application, where you will access the specially filtered music.
Additional co-listening sessions can be added to the "Exclusively SSP" package to further support your process (billed at $150/session). Additional co-listening sessions may often be beneficial for those with high levels of nervous system dysregulation and/or significant trauma histories. Co-listening sessions provide opportunities for co-regulation, support in noticing and naming in-the-moment autonomic state shifts, support with grounding and resourcing, opportunities to somatically process and release autonomic survival energy as it arises, and opportunities to integrate new adaptive patterns.
*Note: If you require additional time to complete the SSP beyond the 3-month subscription access, we can coordinate a plan to extend your access to the Unyte application.
Insurances may reimburse for some portion of the cost for direct provider session time (co-listening sessions). If I am out of network with your insurance company, I am happy to provide Superbills for you to submit directly for out of network reimbursement. Insurances do not presently cover the cost of the Unyte app, however, in most cases, this is an allowed expense for HSA, HRA, or flex-spending accounts (check with your plan to be sure).