Services

Safe and Sound Protocol

Move from surviving to thriving.

What is Safe and Sound Protocol?

The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP), developed by Dr Stephen Porges, is an app based five-hour musical intervention designed to shift the nervous system from defense and survival to regulation, thriving, and social engagement. Clients return to feeling safe and are better able to connect with themselves and others. Rooted in Polyvagal Theory, SSP utilizes specially filtered and patented music to gently retune the nervous system, fostering a sense of safety and receptivity within the participant. The Safe and Sound Protocol can be administered in person or remotely. Both delivery methods produce excellent results.

SSP is a not a stand alone therapy. Participants are encouraged to engage other modalities to enhance the outcomes of this musical intervention. SSP has shown to increase the efficacy of the other modalities by making the person more accessible. The overall time spent in other therapies is reduced due to the regulating effect of SSP. The other modalities offered at the NRG Wellness Group work synergistically with SSP.

Where There is Safety for the Nervous System, Healing Naturally Occurs

The nervous system is the foundation of how we orient ourselves in the world, how we take in information, relate to others, and participate in our lives. When it becomes dysregulated and shifts into protective states like fight, flight, or freeze, people find it hard to function and find the healing they are seeking. Supporting the nervous system with SSP gently and safely, from the inside out, creates the right conditions for healing and recovery. Healing just naturally happens with SSP.

The five hours of the SSP are cues of safety to vagus nerve and the rest of the body. The presence of a regulated provider is an essential cue of safety that greatly enhances the SSP outcome. Polyvagal Theory education is an integral part of the SSP and continues the safety of this program by helping the participant to understand so they can help vagus to regulate and heal. Polyvagal Theory explains how the autonomic nervous system/vagus influences our emotional regulation, social connection and responses to stress.

By the time a participant has completed the protocol, they will know what the vagus nerve is, the protective role it plays every minute of our lives, how to recognize the states of vagus, and how to regulate vagus with regulation exercises. The very name of this protocol, Safe and Sound, informs clients their nervous systems are being supported with safety before they even get to listening to the music. Safety is the outcome we are looking for with SSP and it what clients are getting. For more information visit the SSP microsite here.

The Three Pathways:
Connect, Core, Balance.

The Safe and Sound Protocol pathways are designed to help the nervous system to better receive, process and respond to the cues and signals from the world around us. SSP helps us learn how to more easily and consistently feel better regulated in the face of life’s challenges and return us to homeostasis.

The entire Safe and Sound Protocol is comprised of three main pathways – Connect, Core and Balance. Each of the SSP pathways is composed of varying levels of filtration in calming 5-hour music playlists for children and adults. The CORE pathway is the acoustical intervention for vagus. It is designed to stimulate the vagus nerve, retuning it to better function, which affects many imperative body functions (heart rate, breathing, digestion). The music of Core is run through a proprietary algorithm to filter out low and high frequencies. The middle range of frequencies that are left are how we gain access to vagus nerve through the middle ear. Many clients use a combination of all three pathways during the protocol. Connect and Balance pathways can be used before, during and after the Core intervention helping to tone the vagus nerve, building resiliency within. New responses to life’s challenges are automatic giving us more opportunity for spontaneity and enjoyment.

This visual shows full-spectrum sound frequencies in a typical, unfiltered clip of popular music.

Here is the exact same clip — after being filtered through the SSP’s algorithm.

Nourish and awaken the nervous system safely and effectively.
Feel better. Think better. Connect better.

Feel Better

Respond effectively to life's challenges.

"Respond vs. react", replacing emotionally charged reactivity with controlled responsiveness and resilience.

Think Better

Access higher learning and cognition.

Learn and retain important facts and concepts that enable greater confidence and societal contribution.

Connect Better

Build positive social relationships.

Develop meaningful relationships and truly connect with others.

Who Can Benefit

If you are struggling with any of the following, or symptoms that are not diagnosable (medically undiagnosed symptoms) you might benefit from using the Safe and Sound Protocol.

Anyone suffering from nervous system dysregulation can benefit.

Depression and anxiety and trauma related symptoms

Chronic pain and fatigue

Low resiliency in day to day living

Difficulties in controlling physiological and emotional states - reactivity

Social and emotional difficulties

Auditory and other sensory sensitivities

Sleep difficulties

Gut/digestive issues

Adults, children, parents, therapists/counsellors, health care providers, first responders, veterans, families, animals

Everyone can use and benefit from this protocol – whether you have had trauma or not

Neurodiversity – ADD/ADHD

What is Nervous System Dysregulation?

The nervous system plays an important role in maintaining overall health and well-being. It’s responsible for transmitting signals between different parts of the body, and is essential for the optimal functioning of various bodily functions and processes, such as movement, digestion, respiration and cognition.

Regulating the nervous system is crucial for maintaining overall well-being and enhancing daily life. A well-regulated nervous system allows individuals to respond effectively to life’s challenges, replacing emotionally charged reactions with controlled responsiveness and resilience. This improved emotional control helps people feel better and navigate stressful situations more easily. When the nervous system is dysregulated, the effects may be felt throughout the entire body. When the nervous system is regulated, the whole body benefits. The benefits listed above are all examples of dysregulation.

SSP Works!

Quantifiable Impact:
Evidence-Based Results

The Safe and Sound Protocol demonstrates significant improvements across key areas, backed by robust data as follows.

Anxiety

85%

of participants reported improvement in symptoms of anxiety

In a real-world data sample, 752 clients reported at least moderate anxiety symptoms before the SSP Core program.

Following completion of 5 Hours of SSP Core:

85% reported an improvement in symptoms.

63% of clients moved from clinical to non-clinical level.

Depression

81%

of participants reported improvement in symptoms of depression

In a real-world data sample, 543 clients reported at least moderate depression symptoms before starting the SSP Core program.

Following completion of 5 Hours of SSP Core:

81% reported an improvement in symptoms.

53% of clients moved from clinical to non-clinical level.

Trauma

87%

of participants reported improvements in symptoms of trauma (PTSD)

In a real-world data sample, 390 clients reported at least moderate trauma - related symptoms before starting the SSP Core program.

Following completion of 5 Hours of SSP Core:

87% reported improvement in symptoms.

57% of clients moved from clinical to non-clinical level.

“Trauma is chronic disruption of connectedness.” “Trauma is not the event, but the individual’s response.”

Dr Stephen Porges

What Our Clients Say

LB Kelowna BC

"I am really happy to be writing this testimonial. What a life changing experience Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) has been for me. It has been one month since I was introduced to the SSP intervention and my day-to-day living is vastly different. I have suffered from PTSD most of my life. The intake process of SSP illuminated the effects of PTSD on my senses, showing up as hypersensitivity in hearing, sight, tactile sensing, and taste. I was also extremely hyper vigilant about my environment, making my daily experience very distracting, upsetting, and exhausting. I have come to understand that hypersensitivity and hypervigilance are hallmark symptoms of PTSD.

The intervention took ten days for me. On day ten, I felt an internal shift. What does that look like? The top four things that have changed are sleep, safety, happiness, and reduction of the hypersensitivities.

I have been a poor sleeper my whole life, averaging four to five hours a night of broken restless sleep. I now sleep seven hours solidly every night. I experience a felt sense of safety; and it remains with me daily. What a beautiful way to live. I am no longer consumed by the hypervigilance of constantly monitoring my world for danger. The ease with which I now move through my world is quite incredible. I experience happiness daily. I didn’t really know what happy felt like, but I have a fuller experience of that now. The reduction in sensory sensitivities is new and exciting. I am not on ‘high alert’ anymore, allowing me a calmer daily existence. The neural exercises learned during the intervention continue to help my nervous system to be calmer and more flexible. I notice improvements in how I relate to myself and the important people around me. The SSP intervention has given me the ability to navigate the inevitable bumps in the road with assurance and resilience. I no longer am just surviving: I am thriving. Thank you SSP!"

FOLLOW UP

It has been 13 months since my first SSP intervention and 5 months since I completed my second intervention. The second intervention not only enhanced the first intervention, but has promoted resiliency and ease in my daily living. My sleep continues to improve and the symptoms of PTSD continue to lessen. I am more comfortable in my own skin than I have ever been in the five and a half decades of my life. There is a discernable difference in relationship to other people; I am much more at ease with others. I have levels of confidence never before experienced. I am so grateful for the healing and recovery through Safe and Sound Protocol.