Think, feel and connect better through

nervous system regulation,

supported by the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)

offered online or with live support from John Cummins

Is Your Nervous System

Stuck in Survival Mode?

You might feel anxious, disconnected, overwhelmed — even when nothing seems “wrong.”

You’ve done the work: therapy, mindfulness, movement — and yet, your body still feels like it’s bracing for something.

That’s not because you’re broken.

It’s because your nervous system may still be running on patterns of protection.

The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) was developed to help exactly this.

Grounded in Dr. Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory, SSP uses specially filtered music to stimulate the vagus nerve and gently guide your nervous system out of fight, flight, or freeze — and into safety, regulation, and connection.

You might notice signs of a dysregulated system like:

  • Ongoing anxiety, edginess, or irritability

  • Difficulty relaxing or falling asleep

  • Emotional shutdown or numbness

  • Sensory overwhelm or hypervigilance

  • Trouble connecting with others — or even with yourself

If this feels familiar, SSP offers a way to retrain your system to feel safe again — not just in your mind, but in your body.

What is

Safe and Sound

Protocol?

The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is a therapeutic tool that helps your nervous system move out of stress and into safety — without forcing, fixing, or overriding.

Created by Dr. Stephen Porges and grounded in Polyvagal Theory, SSP uses specially processed music to support the body’s natural ability to regulate and connect.

You listen to this music through an app, over time, in a way that’s gentle and tailored to your system. The process helps cultivate:

  • A baseline of internal safety

  • A greater capacity for connection

  • More ease in emotional and physiological responses

It’s not a quick fix — but for many, it creates real, lasting shifts.

Who is SSP for?

SSP is suitable for adults and teens who want to build nervous system regulation — whether for healing, growth, or resilience.

You might benefit from SSP if you’re:

  • Navigating trauma recovery or chronic stress

  • Living with ADHD, autism, or sensory sensitivities

  • Struggling with anxiety, sleep issues, or emotional reactivity

  • Feeling “stuck” despite previous therapy or somatic work

  • Seeking to deepen your capacity for connection and presence

If your system struggles to relax — SSP offers a way back to internal safety.

How will we

Work Together?

Here’s what it looks like to go through SSP with me:

Step 1: Let’s Talk

We start with a free 20-minute call to see if SSP is right for you — and if your system is ready for it.

Step 2: You Get the App + a Plan

If it’s a good fit, I’ll give you access to the SSP app and create a listening schedule tailored to your needs. No rushing. No pressure.

Step 3: I Walk With You

Some people listen on their own with check-ins. Others prefer real-time sessions together. I’ll support you either way, and adjust based on how your system responds.

Step 4: We Integrate

This isn’t just about the listening. I’ll help you notice the shifts, understand what’s happening, and gently build regulation practices to support the process.

Shifts You’ll

You will notice:

  • You’re less reactive or triggered by things that used to set you off

  • Your sleep deepens, your digestion improves, your shoulders soften

  • You don’t just know you’re safe — you start to feel it

  • Social interaction becomes easier, or at least more tolerable

  • You reconnect with parts of yourself that felt distant or numb

There’s no one-size-fits-all outcome.

What I often see is people coming back into their bodies — on their terms.

Begin to See

Book Your First Conversation

If SSP feels like it could be right for you, the first step is simple: let’s talk.

This free 20-minute consultation is a chance for us to connect, explore what you’re noticing in your system, and see whether this work feels like a good fit for where you are right now.

 FAQs

  • The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is a therapy developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, a neuroscientist who has extensively researched the nervous system's role in regulating our physiological responses to stress and trauma. The SSP is a non-invasive intervention that uses filtered music to help retrain the nervous system and improve the individual's ability to regulate their emotions and behaviors.

  • Through the specially filtered music, the SSP sends cues of safety to your nervous system, building the foundation for awareness, embodiment and resilience.

  • Recommended: Over- the-ear headphones that are not noise canceling headphones are recommended for SSP.

    Not recommended: earbuds, noise-canceling headphones, bass-boosting headphones.

  • The Unyte-iLs app makes the SSP program easily accessible because it can be downloaded on any smartphone or tablet and used with over-the-ear headphones. This enables the user to access the SSP intervention in their own home with remote support. We customize the protocol for each individual’s needs, offering a more gradual introduction to the program and extended services when needed.

  • ​Yes. Activities such as drawing, slow and mindful movement and other creative activities are often a great way to enhance your listening experience.

  • The SSP Core program is a total of 5-hrs of listening. During our initial consultation and coaching call, I will recommend a pace that works for your unique nervous system. However, going slow and attuning to your nervous systems needs is best practice.

  • The music we listen to during the SSP intervention is modified to remove low frequencies and keep high frequencies (you will tend to hear only female voices or high male voices). It also goes very quiet at times to exercise the ear muscles further.

    When the tympanic membrane (eardrum) in our middle ear is taut, it is more attuned to pick up higher, happier frequencies. When we are in threatening situations the nervous system sends messages to the ear to slacken the tympanic membrane so it is more attuned to picking up lower threatening frequencies to prepare us for danger. The Vagus nerve then sends those negative frequencies back to the gut and reinforces the negative cycle.

    When the membrane is slack we are more ready for danger and less likely to engage social mode. The purpose of SSP is to make the membrane taut, so more attuned to picking up happier frequencies, passing positive messages to the gut via the Vagus nerve (and back), reinforcing the positive cycle which has a compound effect over time.

    The music is electronically modified to highlight parts of the sound spectrum that send messages of safety to the gut and back via the Vagus nerve. This feeling of safety and well-being stays with us for the five day duration of the therapy, by which time with the positive reinforcements the tympanic membrane gets tauter and picks up and sends more positive aural signals to the gut. The gut then sends messages to the brain (and back to the ear via the Vagus) to relax and engage, keeping the tympanic membrane firm and reinforcing the positive results. This continues over the next 5-6 weeks and we see some of the best results from SSP at this time.

    When we are in Social Engagement Mode we feel safe and are able to engage positively with the world and other complementary therapies.

  • The effectiveness of the therapy peaks around weeks 5 and 6 and sometimes peters off in two to six months. In this case we advise repeating the therapy, generally advised in three month intervals. Occasionally in cases of serious trauma we advise redoing the program after six weeks. Many of our clients have an SSP intervention three or four times altogether for long-lasting effects.

    1. Improved response to stress - ​When our nervous system is regulated, it’s easier to sleep, eat, digest, concentrate, communicate, and participate in meaningful relationships with others. We can better respond to difficult situations and move past them instead of reacting and getting “stuck” in them.

    2. Better emotional regulation and resilience - Become attuned to and more in control of emotions, so you can move through temporary setbacks with more flexibility and ease.

    3. More social connection and deeper relationships - ​By activating the part of your 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.