Safe and Sound Protocol Treatment in Dallas, TX & New Mexico
Calm Your Nervous System. Shift from Defense. Open to Connection.
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Who is this service for?
This therapy service is for individuals impacted by attachment or developmental trauma. It helps teens exploring their identity, or clients managing anxiety, depression, or anger. We support those with DID and personality disorders seeking foundational nervous system regulation.
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Do you feel stuck in defense? Does your nervous system struggle to find calm? SSP (Safe and Sound Protocol) offers a unique pathway. It uses filtered music to gently retune your system. Experience deep healing through sound.
About SSP (Safe and Sound Protocol) Therapy
SSP (Safe and Sound Protocol) is a revolutionary acoustic intervention. It is deeply informed by Polyvagal Theory. This therapy uses specially filtered music. This music gently retunes your nervous system. The goal is to help your system shift from states of defense towards a greater capacity for connection and calm.
The Heart Behind SSP: Dr. Stephen Porges
Dr. Stephen Porges created SSP. His vision was to help clients shift from chronic defense states into connection. His work is guided by his groundbreaking Polyvagal Theory. This theory explains how our nervous system influences our feelings of safety and connection.
Why SSP Complements Talk Therapy
SSP works beneath the words. It directly targets and calms the nervous system. When your nervous system is in a state of defense (fight, flight, or freeze), true healing and deep connection can be challenging. SSP helps to gently bring your system into a more regulated state. This allows other therapeutic work, including talk therapy, to begin more effectively and deeply. It lays a crucial physiological foundation for emotional and relational healing.
How SSP Helps Our Clients at Kairos
At Kairos Counseling & Family Therapy, we strategically pair SSP with other powerful, evidence-based therapies. This includes Polyvagal-informed therapy, EMDR, and Emotional Transformation Therapy (ETT). This integrated approach supports foundational nervous system regulation and deep brain-body healing.
SSP effectively helps our clients with a range of challenges, including:
- Attachment & Developmental Trauma: Supports nervous system regulation vital for healing early relational wounds.
- Teens & Identity: Helps adolescents manage emotional intensity and sensory overwhelm during identity formation.
- Anxiety, Depression, Anger: Aids in reducing chronic nervous system activation linked to these symptoms.
- DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) & Personality Disorders: Supports core regulation, which is crucial for managing fragmentation and reactivity.
Benefits of SSP (Safe and Sound Protocol) Therapy
Through specialized SSP therapy at Kairos Counseling, you can experience:
- Nervous System Reset: Gently retune your nervous system for improved regulation.
- Shift from Defense: Move out of chronic fight/flight/freeze states into greater calm.
- Open to Connection: Enhance your capacity for social engagement and genuine connection.
- Reduced Sensitivity: Decrease sensory sensitivities and reactivity to your environment.
- Improved Emotional Regulation: Better manage overwhelming emotions.
- Deeper Healing: Lay a physiological foundation that supports more profound therapeutic work.
- Increased Sense of Safety: Cultivate a greater felt sense of internal and external safety.
Getting Started
Ready to explore how SSP can help retune your nervous system and support your healing journey? We offer a Free 15-Minute Consultation. This is available via Telehealth or in-person. It's a great way to see if SSP therapy is the right fit for you.
Frequently asked questions
Don't let questions stop you from receiving the care you deserve!
The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is a revolutionary but gentle therapy that uses specially designed music to help "retune" your nervous system. Developed by Dr. Stephen Porges (creator of Polyvagal Theory), this non-invasive approach involves listening to carefully filtered music through headphones that trains your brain to process sounds differently. Unlike regular music therapy, SSP specifically targets the pathways connecting your ears to your vagus nerve - the body's main regulator of safety and social connection. Many clients describe it as helping them feel "more present" and "less reactive" to everyday stresses.
Your ears do much more than hear - they're directly wired to your body's threat detection system. SSP works by exercising these auditory muscles (the smallest in your body!) with frequencies that gently encourage your system to shift from "defense mode" (fight/flight/freeze) to "connection mode" (calm and engaged). Think of it like physical therapy for your nervous system - the specially processed music helps "reset" how your body responds to stress. Over the 5-day protocol, most people notice improved emotional regulation, easier social interaction, and often better digestion and sleep as their whole system learns to stay more regulated.
SSP creates the optimal physiological state for other therapies to work better. Imagine trying to have a deep conversation while drowning - that's what traditional therapy can feel like when your nervous system is dysregulated. SSP is like coming up for air first. After completing the protocol, clients often find they: 1. Process trauma more effectively in EMDR sessions; 2. Engage more fully in talk therapy; 3. Implement coping skills more easily; 4. Feel generally "lighter" and more present. We typically recommend SSP early in treatment as it helps "prime" your system for deeper work.
You'll listen to special music through headphones for 1 hour/day over 5-10 days while doing quiet activities like coloring. Your therapist monitors your responses. Most notice subtle changes like deeper breathing or feeling calmer, with more noticeable effects appearing in daily life afterward.