The Safe and Sound Protocol

How much does the SSP Cost?

The cost of the Safe and Sound Protocol depends on your circumstances. I provide a flat rate for full families and a subscription rate for follow ups.

How does the Safe and Sound Protocol Work?

Music is played through over-ear headphones, which has been specially engineered in order to gradually expose the auditory system to different sound frequencies. It works by stimulating the facial and vagus nerves and helping the autonomic nervous system to regulate, improving concentration and social engagement.

Over-the-ear headphones are recommended instead of earbuds or on-ear headphones because they provide an immersive sound experience facilitated by their enclosed nature.

The vagus nerve has a sensory branch from the external ear, the external auditory canal, and the pinna (which is the ear skin/tissue itself). By covering the whole ear with over-ear headphones, we’re maximizing input to the vagus nerve for maximum parasympathetic function. Earbuds only bring input to the external auditory canal and eardrum.

Prospective clients often ask me why the Safe and Sound Protocol is so different from other auditory integration programmes. I hope this page answers this question. In a nutshell, the Safe and Sound Protocol is the only auditory intervention that directly retunes and regulates autonomic state, moving a person out of fight/flight/freeze and into a rest and digest/parasympathetic state.

This blog post on the Safe and Sound Protocol also explains how it works, as do the following videos:

Who is the Safe and Sound Protocol for?

When faced with what the body perceives as threats or danger, it responds by re-tuning the nervous system into states of defense – either “fight or flight” (sympathetic) or “freeze” (dorsal vagal). The brain and body’s first priority is to keep us alive.

When the nervous system remains in a chronic state of defense, it affects both the mind and body – impacting how we feel, think, and connect with others. 

This can adversely affect our health and day-to-day experience in the world. Talking therapies require a person to take a top-down approach, and be able to name their emotions and rationalise in order to make progress. The Safe and Sound Protocol is a bottom-up approach, in that it works directly with a person’s physiological response to perceived threat.

In addition to acute, repetitive, complex and developmental trauma, the Safe and Sound Protocol has been proven to help the following difficulties and challenges:

• Social and emotional difficulties
• Auditory sensitivities
• Auditory processing difficulties
• Anxiety and trauma related challenges
• Inattention
• Stressors that impact social engagement

How do I access the Safe and Sound Protocol?

If you want to complete the Safe and Sound Protocol safely and with confidence in my experience of supporting children and young people with neurodiversity and trauma and their parents, your first step is to contact me for an initial chat. You can also trial the SSP Connect for a month with no commitment to working with me.

The only equipment you’ll need is an iPhone with iOS 11 or newer, or an Android device less than 4 years old, as well as pair of over-ear headphones that are not noise cancelling, or on which you can turn noise cancelling off. I recommend the OneOdio A70s, as they are inexpensive but excellent quality. I use one of these to connect to my iPhone, just because I’m not keen on Bluetooth connections, but that is down to me being a dinosaur rather than anything else. This particular model allows you to charge a phone at the same time. If you need a splitter for iphone, if you are going to listen with a child, I recommend this one. Please discuss this possibility with me before you make a purchase, though, as it may be that I feel you need to listen separately.

There are occasions on which I am not able to work with a client remotely, so please bear this in mind. Occasionally, the way in which a client navigates the SSP Connect shows me that either a client’s nervous system is not ready for the SSP Core, or that my approach will not produce optimal results. In this case, I will explain that this is the case. This is for your own safety, and because I have been working with the SSP for long enough to get a sense of whether remote work is possible/advisable with a client or not.

I was one of the first practitioners to train in the Safe and Sound Protocol in the United Kingdom, and is currently the only Safe and Sound Protocol provider in West Sussex/East Surrey. I specialise in delivering the SSP to neurodivergent people.

I work closely with the growing community of experienced SSP practitioners across the globe, and am a contributor to Unyte SSP training and delivery guidelines.

SSP Testimonials and Case Studies

Dan – aged 7

6 months on from SSP and my son not only fully participated in a dance display at his school but look at him – he’s smiling!!! 😁😁😁 Last autumn he had to be persuaded to speak 5 words at harvest festival and here he is absolutely smashing the dance performance! I held back tears the whole way through I was so impressed by how far he has come.

Oscar – aged 9

We recently worked with Emma to look at reducing anxiety in our eldest. We are already doing reflex work but Emma offered us the Safe and Sound Protocol, which we did under her guidance. O responded immediately in a positive way, is much slower to react to triggers and accesses his coping strategies much more easily. Would highly recommend Emma.

Erika – aged 47

Erika had started suffering from social anxiety and depression following the birth of her now school-aged child. She found social situations hard and would constantly cancel at the last minute. In addition, she found switching off after work very hard, and was an insomniac, functioning on as little as four hours’ sleep a night.

She heard about the Safe and Sound Protocol via social media, and was keen to give it a go.

“The main result I’ve noticed from the SSP is my quality of sleep. During the programme, I was ready to go to bed by 9pm every night, and slept soundly until 6am! I’ve also noticed a great reduction in social anxiety, and feel more able to confront social situations without panicking”.

Oliver – aged 4

Oliver has had issues with aggression against other children for the past few months, both at pre-school and in public spaces such as playgrounds. His parents contacted me because they are convinced was to do with anxiety, and didn’t know how to address it. He has a mild speech and language disorder, which makes him less articulate than the average four year-old.

We completed the protocol during the October half term holiday, and since then, the incidents have petered out to once a day, once a week and none at all in early December! In addition, I have noticed that his speech has improved very noticeably in clarity and content.

Austin – aged 8

Austin has a range of diagnosed specific learning difficulties, including dypraxia, dyslexia and dysgraphia. We did the programme together on the first day – he enjoyed drawing and making models with air drying clay during our first session. His parents then continued through to day five with him at home. They reported that he went to sleep far more easily throughout the programme. Additionally, there was a drastic improvement in handwriting, without any other intervention.

The SSP continues to make improvements for several weeks after it has been completed.

Lucy – aged 45

Lucy decided to try the SSP as a drug-free way to address her anxiety. She has found it much easier to sleep since completing the programme, but even better news for her is that it has eased her perimenopause and her monthly cycle is once again regular after a year of being all over the place.

Lukas – aged 6

Lukas came to me with a presentation of sensory processing difficulties and poor receptive language skills. He completed one session with me, in which he drew me some fantastic pictures and then made trains out of play doh. He completed the remainder of the programme at home with his mother, with remote support.

His mother reports that he has developed close friendships with a couple of boys in his class and has been invited for playdates for the first time ever! His attention at school is noticeably improved, and sensory issues reduced.

Jack – aged 9

Jack is non-verbal and struggles with anxiety, and attends a specialist school, where he requires a high level of support with transitions and routine.

He completed the SSP over the holidays.

When he started back at school, his key worker could not believe the change, as he had started following instructions without having his hand physically held. He was also able to cope much better with transitions (such as the end of play time), and has started to join in with songs during circle time.

Further SSP case studies are published on the Unyte iLs website.

*Please note that the names above have been changed for complete anonymity.

Safe and sound protocol UK, Safe and Sound Protocol London, Safe and Sound Protocol Remote, Safe and Sound Protocol Adoption Support Fund, Polyvagal T

What are the side effects of the Safe and Sound Protocol?

We need to reframe “side effects” as the way our bodies process trauma.

The Safe and Sound Protocol gives us autonomic flexibility – allowing our nervous systems to spring back into a “safe and sound” state rather than being stuck in fight/flight or freeze. For this reason, while going through the programme, people may experience effects such as disturbed sleep, digestion, increased fight/flight reactions, sensory reactivity and malaise/body sensations/pains. None of these reactions are a BAD thing – they are our bodies trying to shift, and it’s important to understand this and go with it. I explain how to work with this when we work together, and support my clients through these shifts.

This is why it’s important that you work with an experienced provider like me, who has a profound understanding of nervous systems and trauma as well as many years of experience at delivering the SSP.