Reset Your Nervous System: How the Safe and Sound Protocol Helps Kids, Teens, and Adults
If you or your child feels overwhelmed, "on edge," or stuck in patterns of anxiety, shutdown, or reactivity, you're not alone. Many struggles, such as emotional dysregulation, social anxiety, sensory sensitivities, or difficulty focusing, can be traced back to the nervous system working too hard for too long. This is often where approaches like therapy help children with anxiety and nervous system-based interventions become essential.
At Wonder Tree, we offer an evidence-based, gentle intervention called the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) to help retrain the nervous system, support emotional regulation, and create a greater sense of safety in daily life.
What Is the Safe and Sound Protocol?
The Safe and Sound Protocol is a five-hour, research-backed therapeutic listening program developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, based on the Polyvagal Theory. SSP uses gentle, specially filtered music designed to help the nervous system shift out of chronic survival states (fight, flight, or shutdown) and into a state where connection, curiosity, and calm become easier.
This isn’t a typical “music therapy” approach. Instead, the music is acoustically modified to stimulate the middle-ear muscles that play a crucial role in how we perceive safety through sound. When the nervous system starts interpreting its environment as safe, emotional regulation, focus, and social engagement naturally improve.
SSP is suitable for neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals, including those with anxiety, sensory processing differences, ADHD, trauma histories, or developmental delays.
How SSP Helps Kids and Teens
Children and teens often express stress through behaviours rather than words. SSP can help them become more regulated, more connected, and more resilient across home, school, and community environments. Many families notice improvements within weeks.
Common areas where SSP supports young people include:
Emotional dysregulation (meltdowns, shutdowns, big feelings)
Difficulty transitioning between activities
Sensory sensitivities (sound, touch, movement)
Anxiety related to school, social settings, or new situations
Trouble focusing or staying calm
Irritability or frequent overwhelm
Challenges with communication or social engagement
SSP is particularly helpful when combined with Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Child Therapy, or Parent Coaching, since it increases a child's ability to participate in therapeutic work and use new skills.
How SSP Helps Adults
Adults often carry the weight of chronic stress, burnout, trauma patterns, or overactive nervous system states that have been building for years. SSP helps by supporting nervous system flexibility, the ability to shift out of survival mode and access calm, clarity, and connection.
Adults may see benefits in:
Anxiety and constant hypervigilance
Feeling easily overwhelmed or overstimulated
Difficulty relaxing or "switching off"
Trouble focusing or staying present
Sleep challenges
Emotional numbness or shutdown
Stress related to caregiving, work, or relationships
Adults often pair SSP with Counselling, somatically informed strategies, or Occupational Therapy to reinforce long-term nervous system resilience.
Why SSP Works (The Science Made Simple)
The Safe and Sound Protocol works by delivering carefully filtered music that targets the muscles of the inner and middle ear, the same pathway that tells the brain whether the environment is safe or threatening.
This process stimulates the vagus nerve, a key regulator of:
Emotional regulation
Social engagement
Stress recovery
Heart rate and breathing
Sensory processing
Connection and communication
When the nervous system receives repeated cues of safety, it becomes easier to:
Stay calm during everyday challenges
Respond instead of react
Feel connected to others
Focus during school or work
Recover more quickly from stress
Over time, SSP helps individuals shift from chronic survival mode into a steadier, more regulated way of moving through the world.
How We Offer SSP at Wonder Tree
At Wonder Tree, SSP is offered through a highly supportive, trauma-informed, and individualized model to ensure the greatest benefit. We understand that every nervous system is unique, which is why our therapists tailor the pace, environment, and support to each person.
Our approach includes:
A therapist-guided intake to understand goals, sensitivities, and readiness
A personalized listening schedule that can be completed from home or integrated into therapy
Weekly check-ins to support progress, emotional responses, and regulation strategies
Parent support for families completing the protocol with children or teens
Integration into existing therapies, such as Occupational Therapy, Counselling, or Parent Coaching
This gentle, client-centered approach ensures that SSP fits naturally into your daily routines and therapeutic goals.
How SSP Creates Lasting Change
The Safe and Sound Protocol gradually introduces cues of safety to a nervous system that has been stuck in high alert. As the middle-ear muscles strengthen and vagal pathways become more responsive, individuals often experience:
Better tolerance for everyday stress
More flexibility in emotional responses
Improved communication and social engagement
Reduced sensory sensitivities
Increased capacity for learning
Stronger regulation skills in therapy and daily life
Families frequently share that their child feels calmer, more connected, and more capable, and adults often report feeling more grounded, present, and emotionally aware.
Learn Whether SSP Is Right for You or Your Child
If you're curious about whether SSP could help you, your child, or a family member, our team is here to guide you. At Wonder Tree, we provide a supportive environment where neurodiversity is celebrated, emotional safety is prioritized, and every therapeutic process is personalized.
We can incorporate SSP into Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Counselling, ABA-informed support, or offer it as a standalone program depending on your goals.
Reach out today to book an intake or learn more about the Safe and Sound Protocol, and take the next step toward a calmer, more regulated nervous system.