All about the Safe and Sound Protocol

The SSP is a musical therapy that consists of listening to 5 hours of filtered music spread over several days according to a listening plan. The SSP acts directly on the body and the autonomic nervous system.

The SSP was developed by Dr. Stephen Porges.

He is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist who has been conducting scientific research on the functioning of the autonomic nervous system for over 30 years, especially in the areas of stress, trauma and safety.

Based on his research, he devised the Polyvagal theory, which offers an appropriate explanation for how our nervous system works. And why we are affected by it.

Based on this theory, he then developed the Safe and Sound Protocol.

This theory shows that people can be in three autonomous states.

The dorsal state

The first state is the dorsal state, which represents the oldest survival mechanism.

In this state you feel tired, depressed, slumped and disconnected from the world around you. This state can be compared to a mouse holding itself dead while a cat plays with it.

The sympathetic state

The second state is the sympathetic state, a survival mechanism of fight and/or flight.

We used to use this state to escape. Nowadays, you feel angry and irritable when you are in this state. You can't concentrate well then and you are about to get even angrier.

The ventral state

The third state is the ventral state. In this state you feel comfortable and can connect well with others. You then also come across to other people as safe and relaxed. And also your voice is calm and pleasant.

In this state, you feel relaxed, safe and ready to enjoy life.

The SSP music taps into the ventral state of the nervous system. We can thus come out of a survival state in which we have been stuck for years. The music does this, by emitting only frequencies that are considered safe by our nervous system.

Music also acts directly on our middle ear, changing our hearing. We are therefore more focused on signals of safety. Our hearing is connected to the vagus nerve, which regulates our autonomic nervous system.

Filtered music improves our hearing by training the middle ear muscles on either side of the eardrum. This trains our hearing to focus on safe frequencies.

As a result, we are more focused on signals of safety. And less on signals of insecurity that were important from our evolution.

The SSP thus resets our hearing. And our nervous system.

As Stephen Porges says:

''It's a valuable discovery that the way we listen and what we listen to affects the way our bodies respond.''

By training your brain, calming your nervous system and building better basic relaxation, you can think more clearly and feel more connected to yourself and others. You then begin to think and live from a secure foundation.

After you download the app, you can start downloading the music from the SSP. Then you can use over the ear headphones without noise canceling to listen to the music yourself at home.

You will receive detailed listening instructions and a customized listening plan from us. This allows you to know exactly what to do and what not to do. And you will receive from us a Polyvagal course with exercises, which you can read for even more results.

You get 12 months access to the SSP so you can listen to it as much as you want. This has the benefit of not only regulating your nervous system but also strengthening it.

And that by repeating, the result becomes permanent. We know from our own experience and from other providers worldwide, that the SSP should be repeated 3 - 4 times.

Even Unyte itself now advises providers to offer it by 12 months for that reason.

You can always contact us during these 12 months to ask questions, seek advice or discuss your experiences. We have a lot of experience in offering the SSP online. Because of this experience you can count on the proper guidance.

How much does it cost

The SSP costs 250 euros with us for 12 months, for this you get access to the full SSP. Connect, Core and Balance. This includes counseling and the Polyvagal course.

How did the SSP come about?

The SSP was originally developed by Stephen Porges as a neurological training to reduce overstimulation in children with autism.

However, years of research and ever-growing practical experience have shown that it also has a positive effect in other people in whom the nervous system is overstimulated and overly alert for other reasons.

It is also being used more and more in trauma, and new applications are emerging. For example, it is also being used more and more to help with Long Covid. But also, for example, with students with exam anxiety and study problems.

This video gives a great explanation of our autonomic nervous system. And why it is so important to our health and how we feel.

Who better to tell it than our clients?