Safe & Sound (SSP) :: Clovis Counseling :: Helping You Help Your Child

Your STORY follows your STATE

The Safe & Sound Protocol (SSP) is an evidence-based listening therapy designed to reduce sound sensitivities and improve auditory processing, behavioral state regulation, and social engagement behaviors through filtered music.

As a practical application of Polyvagal Theory, the SSP acts as a non-invasive, acoustic vagal nerve stimulator, helping to re-tune the nervous system to better support connection, collaboration and resilience.

The SSP involves listening to specially filtered music through headphones alongside a provider, in-person or remotely. Suitable for children and adults, the SSP has demonstrated benefits for individuals with trauma, anxiety, sensory processing differences and more.

Highlights of the SSP

The Safe & Sound Protocol is:

A five-hour auditory intervention developed and patented by Dr. Stephen Porges, author of the Polyvagal Theory
Designed to reduce sound sensitivity and improve auditory processing and behavioral state regulation
Activates the client’s social engagement system, helping to accelerate and enhance therapeutic outcomes
Supports physiological state regulation, allowing for greater resilience

The Science of Feeling Safe

Polyvagal Theory is the science of feeling safe. Developed by world-renowned researcher and Unyte’s Chief Scientific Advisor, 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.

How it Works

Subconsciously, we're always looking for cues from our environment and those around us that we are either "safe" or "unsafe". But if we have difficulty interpreting those cues of safety due to past experiences or the way we take in information, our nervous system can become tuned to feel unsafe. Worse yet, this can make it harder for us to experience the cues of safety around us, creating a vicious cycle.

The answer is to break the cycle and retune our nervous system using the SSP. With the SSP, popular or classical music is filtered using an evidence-based, patented algorithm designed to generate subconscious cues of safety that help regulate our nervous system and restore it to health.

Clovis Counseling provides the Safe & Sound Protocol within the context of individual sessions. Following an assessment process, we will determine the best plan to address your needs.

Typically, the assessment and treatment process involves 10-15 sessions. However, depending on individual needs, listening tolerance, etc. there may be additional sessions needed to complete the entire intake process, 5-hour protocol, and closing evaluation.