Your nervous system is constantly taking in information from the world around you and from inside your body. It is continually assessing, often outside of conscious awareness, whether you are safe, under threat, connected, overwhelmed, or in need of protection.
When the nervous system has been shaped by chronic stress, trauma, anxiety, illness, or prolonged periods of overwhelm, it can become difficult to shift out of protective states. You may understand intellectually that you are safe while your body continues to respond as though danger is present.
You may notice
Listening therapies take a bottom-up approach, working with the body and nervous system rather than asking you to think your way into feeling better. Through specially designed auditory input, they give your nervous system an opportunity to experience something different.
This can be especially helpful when you understand your patterns and reactions intellectually, but your body still responds as though you're in danger.
Listening therapies can help support the nervous system in becoming more regulated, flexible, and able to experience greater safety and connection.
Safe and Sound Protocol™
Supporting Safety, Emotional Regulation, and Connection
Supporting Rest, Restoration, and Physiological Balance
There isn't one answer.
I often tell my clients that if everyone in the world could experience a round of these listening therapies, we'd be living in a very different world.
That being said, there is often a clear starting point. I look at your history, current symptoms, how your nervous system tends to respond to stress, and what you're hoping to change to determine which protocol may be most supportive as a starting point.
SSP
Tends to focus on safety, connection, and engagement, supporting co-regulation and our capacity to connect with others.
RRP
Tends to focus on rest, restoration, and recovery, supporting interoception and our capacity to connect with ourselves.
01
We'll talk about your goals, symptoms, history, and what you're hoping to get from the experience.
I'll explain the process, answer any questions you have, and help determine which protocol is the best place to begin.
02
We'll begin by listening together for 5–10 minutes, either in the office or virtually.
I'll show you how to access and use the music, and then you'll complete the remainder of your protocol on your own at home.
You'll listen to specially designed music through headphones while sitting or resting comfortably.
There's nothing you need to analyze, figure out, or accomplish while you listen. You simply listen and allow your nervous system to respond.
I'll guide you throughout the process and monitor how your nervous system is responding, making adjustments as needed to help you have a comfortable and supportive experience.
03
We'll pay attention to what you notice, not just emotionally, but physically, internally, and relationally.
As your nervous system becomes more regulated, the changes you notice can be far-reaching and may show up in many different areas of your life.
Some people notice changes quickly. For others, changes are subtle and become more apparent over time.
Listening is titrated to your individual response. Most people do best with shorter listening sessions spaced throughout the week, rather than completing longer sessions all at once.
Your response is more important than the amount of time you listen. We'll adjust the pace and duration based on how your nervous system responds.
Traditional psychotherapy
Often works from the top down, using awareness, insight, language, and cognitive and emotional processing.
Listening therapies
Offer a bottom-up complement, working with physiological regulation and the nervous system.
This can be particularly valuable when you understand your patterns intellectually, but your body continues to respond as though danger is present. Or, conversely, you may be so dysregulated that insight and therapeutic work are
difficult to access.
By supporting nervous system regulation, listening therapies may help create the conditions for greater presence, self-awareness, and engagement in the therapeutic process.
Listening therapy doesn't replace the therapeutic work. It can help create a nervous system that is more available
to do the work.
This is one reason I may integrate SSP or RRP with EMDR and other trauma-informed approaches.
FAQs
Do I have to be in therapy to use listening therapy?
Do I have to talk about my trauma while listening?
How long does it take?
Can listening therapy make me feel worse?
What if I don't like the music?
Can I listen at home?
Will I know immediately if it's working?