Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)

Betsy is a Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) Provider and offers the SSP to clients who wish to take their self-healing to the next level.

You can read about Betsy’s personal experience with using the SSP here and here and in her latest book, Rocks and Roots.

Sign up now!

You can sign up to receive the SSP here!

What is the SSP?

The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is a powerful listening therapy designed to reduce hearing sensitivity and help regulate the autonomic nervous system.
This process helps build the foundation for awareness, embodiment, and resilience.

Music for long-lasting impact

The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is a powerful and innovative listening therapy designed to reduce hearing sensitivity and help regulate the autonomic nervous system. This process helps build the foundation for awareness, embodiment, and resilience.

Beyond listening, you do not have to “do” anything to experience the benefits of the SSP.

Why nervous system regulation is essential for well-being

The autonomic nervous system regulates essential bodily functions. When we feel in danger, this system kicks in to protect us by engaging in what are
commonly known as the “fight/flight” or “freeze” responses. You may be able to identify when your autonomic nervous system is in a defensive state if you notice difficulties with:

• Sleep
• Concentration
• Mental clarity
• Breathing
• Digestion
• Social connection

Benefits of nervous system regulation

Benefits of nervous system regulation include:

• Improved response to stress – Better respond to difficult situations and move past them instead of reacting and getting “stuck” in them
• Ability to access higher learning and cognition – Become attuned to and more in control of emotions, so you can move through temporary setbacks with more flexibility and ease.
• More social connection and deeper relationships – By activating the part of the brain that allows us to be more social, affectionate, and connected, the SSP can help shift you into a state where you are more comfortable and at ease engaging with others, leading to deeper and more meaningful relationships.

What is included in an SSP subscription?

The SSP subscription with Betsy includes:

• An intake session with Betsy to determine your needs
• Access to the SSP Unyte App with specially filtered music for one year
• Follow-up sessions to answer questions and tweak your program

If more counseling or coaching is needed it will be billed at my hourly rate of $100 per hour.

How it works

The music of the SSP has been specially filtered to highlight frequencies of sound that typically make us feel safe. These frequencies can be found in everyday sounds, such as:

• Talking, laughter
• Water flowing
• Musical instruments
• Wind and leaves rustling
  
  Some people’s nervous systems have a harder time interpreting safety on their own. This can include (but is not limited to) individuals who:
  
• Have experienced difficult life events
• Live with an illness or injury
• Have sensory, learning, or developmental differences

The SSP helps restore this ability by sending “cues of safety” directly to the nervous system, so you can feel more calm, engaged, and balanced.

What are the steps to get started?

Here are the steps for getting started with the SSP:

• Sign up and pay the fee here
• Complete the Intake form
• Sign up for a MyUnyte account – once I receive your intake form I will email you the link to sign up for MyUnyte
• Complete brief online assessments – emailed to you by Unyte (if applicable)
• Read through the SSP course material available under the Account tab here
• Schedule your intake session with Betsy here
• During the intake session, Betsy will give you access to your listening program
• You can use the MyUnyte dashboard to monitor your progress

Safe and effective for all ages

The SSP has helped over 100,000 children, adolescents, and adults in more than 70 countries worldwide.

The SSP helps with MCAS and many other conditions!

In addition to MCAS, the SSP supports many symptoms and conditions. The SSP may help reduce symptoms and support overall health and resiliency for
people seeking support for:

• Trauma history
• Depression and anxiety
• Autism, hyperactivity, and attention
  Chronic pain
• Chronic health conditions
• Sensory and auditory processing
• And more

The SSP is easy

I have used the SSP since November 2023. Nervous system dysregulation was at the root of my chronic illness and the SSP was instrumental in putting it into remission. Before starting the SSP I tried many different trauma healing programs, limbic system and vagus nerve healing therapies, and nervous system retraining programs including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Somatic Experiencing, Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM), Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Dynamic Neural Retraining System (DNRS), Cranio Sacral Therapy, Osteopathic Therapy, and others.

However, SSP was by far the most straightforward, easy to use, and effective of these therapies.

You simply listen to specially filtered music and your nervous system takes care of the rest.

Backed by decades of research

The SSP’s effectiveness has been proven in a wide range of clinical studies, including clinical trials involving children and adults with autism.
Real-world evidence has also shown significant improvements in the following areas after the SSP: Learn more and see full results here.

61% of clients with anxiety symptoms moved from clinical to non-clinical level
54% of clients with depression symptoms moved from clinical to non-clinical level
63% of clients with trauma-related symptoms moved from clinical to non-clinical level
47% of clients experiencing psychosocial challenges moved

The SSP works with other therapies

The SSP can be combined with and is supportive of other therapies that you may already be engaged in, such as:

• Occupational, physical, and speech therapy; play therapy; and sensory integration therapy
  Mental health and trauma therapies, such as EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, and Internal Family Systems (IFS)
• Talk therapy (CBT, DBT, MCBT, etc.)
• Bodywork, yoga, and other somatic approaches

Multiple playlists

Genres include popular, classical instrumental, and ambient music, offering both vocal and nonvocal, trauma-sensitive options. The playlists are suitable for all ages.

Listen from almost anywhere

You can listen to the music of the SSP remotely from the comfort of your own home, allowing for flexibility and ease.

Sign Up Now!

You can sign up to receive the SSP and get started here!

SSP FAQ

What if I have hearing challenges and use hearing aids, cochlear implants, or bone-anchored hearing aids?

The SSP can still be used if you have hearing challenges. Your provider can work with you to find a way to do the listening program including using BlueTooth to facilitate listening with your hearing devices.

Cost

Betsy works remotely from Minnesota. The cost is $200 for access to the app for one year which includes the intake session with me, the app, and follow-up check-ins. If you need additional counseling or coaching beyond that it is billed at $100 per hour.

You will also need to have a device for the app (iOS or Android) and over-the-ear headphones that do not have noise-cancelling (or that have the ability to turn off noise-cancelling).

How to listen?

You listen with your own over-the-ear headphones using the app. It’s best to do your listening practice in a quiet environment where you feel safe.

I’d like to talk to you more before committing

Click the appointment schedule link to set up a free call to talk through the details. 

How long is the listening practice

The Core Program is the most filtered and most therapeutic music, and it includes a total of five hours of listening. The Balance Program is less filtered and it is also five hours of total listening. The Balance Program can be used to integrate the nervous system healing of the Core Program, and also during times of activation to calm the nervous system. Both Programs are included in my fee of $200 per year.

How long you can listen each day depends on your level of nervous system dysregulation. Some people can only listen for 10 seconds daily; the typical amount of daily listening is about 5-15 minutes. With less nervous system dysregulation, you can often do 30 minutes of daily listening. After your intake session with Betsy, she will send you a few brief online assessments to determine your level of nervous system dysregulation. Betsy will then design a listening program for you that can be tweaked as we see how you respond.

How do the Programs work?

Once you complete the first 5 hours of the Core Program you can do another 5 hours of Balance to integrate it. After you complete the cycle of 5 hours of Core and 5 hours of Balance, you typically take a 30-day break and then start the cycle over. Your specific listening program will be tailored to the symptoms you are experiencing and your level of nervous system dysregulation so it will look very different from another client’s listening program.

The amount of listening each client tolerates depends on their level of nervous system dysregulation.

Less is more: It’s less about powering through the listening and more about meeting your body where it can take it in therapeutically.

When do you notice results?

People start seeing results with whatever amount of listening they can tolerate daily.

I began noticing results after my first listening session, and I continued to notice improvements with each subsequent session. I noticed both major shifts and subtle changes.

Here are some examples: I was able to add more foods to my diet after the first listening session; I had trauma loops about caregiving that disappeared around the third session; I had SIBO and those symptoms disappeared after about five sessions. When I got another concussion my SIBO symptoms returned, but with one listening practice that resolved. Some of my trauma loops were more complicated and resolved after months of listening practice, and it was astounding to feel something that felt so debilitating fall away.

The amount of listening you will tolerate will depend on your particular nervous system, trauma history, and other factors. But generally, people start to see improvement of some sort right away. Some of the surprising things that improved for me were trauma loops that I didn’t even know I had, my gut health symptoms (SIBO), and my ability to tolerate more everyday stressors.

Nervous system regulating activities

In addition to using the SSP Betsy will teach you nervous system-regulating activities to help you to make the most of the program.

You may integrate nervous system-regulating activities throughout your listening session to help your body process the listening. Regulating activities can include gentle movement, simple puzzles, coloring, clay, or other creative activities. Children may enjoy quiet floor play using toys like building blocks, toy cars, or trains, playdough, or coloring books.

If having your pet nearby is regulating for your nervous system, then it is fine to have them present during your listening session. But if your pet seeks your attention while you are listening it is best to do your listening practice in a separate space.

Screens, cognitively demanding tasks, and high-intensity exercise are generally not recommended as they can stress the nervous system. For some clients, movement can help you safely mobilize through sensations. Note that sudden bursts of movement can be a sign of activation.

How do you know the music will help a person? Are each person’s frequencies different?

The music is filtered to highlight the middle frequencies associated with safety. Every human’s hearing is wired to listen for cues of safety in the environment. Sounds that are low frequencies (like lion roars, bombs, etc.) and high frequencies (screaming) trigger our Autonomic Nervous System to pick up cues of danger around us and put us into a dysregulated state. Middle frequencies (like the soft tones of a mother speaking to her infant) translate to safety in our nervous system.

A lot of people with MCAS and other chronic illnesses have trauma, vagus nerve damage, and nervous system dysregulation, and our ANS is constantly in a state of fright-flight-freeze. We lose the ability to hear middle frequencies, and so our nervous systems can’t find safety in the world. By retraining the muscles of the inner ear it tones the eardrum and increases your capacity to hear the middle frequencies. After my first few listening sessions with the SSP the world actually sounded different to me. For years, I had not been able to listen to music because it was too activating to my nervous system. Now I enjoy listening to music again.

Will listening to regular music heal me?

You won’t heal years of longstanding nervous system dysregulation by listening to music you like. But listening to music you like will help you to feel more regulated in the moment, and that may help you get through your day better.

What symptoms does the SSP help with?

With the SSP you experience layers of healing as your vagus nerve and nervous system dysregulation heal. The SSP helps with the root cause of autonomic nervous system dysregulation. So whatever symptoms you are having will calm down over time, with some symptoms resolving faster than others.

My worst symptoms were chemical sensitivities, food sensitivities, neuropathy, temperature dysregulation, migraines, inflammation, and pain. I also had trauma loops that were interfering with my everyday happiness. My nervous system healing took place in stages, with a physical symptom healing, and then I would notice more mental and emotional resiliency. When I started the SSP I was taking dozens of medications and supplements to manage my symptoms, I couldn’t eat more than 12 foods, and I couldn’t exercise due to pain and inflammation.

Over time I regained the ability to eat almost all foods (I still avoid gluten and sugar), I was able to cut back the number of medications and supplements I was taking to 12, and I could have a regular exercise routine for the first time in decades. I even solo backpacked over 300 miles last summer! As my vagus nerve healed I had less and less sensitivity to environmental triggers, my mast cell symptom flares greatly reduced, and my pain and inflammation disappeared.

Disclaimer

The preceding material does not constitute medical advice. This information is for information purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, cure, or treatment. Always seek advice from your medical doctor.