The Safe and Sound Protocol™ (SSP) and Rest and Restore Protocol™ (RRP)
The Safe and Sound Protocol™ (SSP) and Rest and Restore Protocol™ (RRP) are music protocols from Unyte Health that are designed to support nervous system healing. Each one consists of filtered music that you listen to over time.
The Safe and Sound Protocol™ is designed to support feelings of safety and connection in the body. From the point of view of PolyVagal Theory, it is working with the Ventral Vagal branch of the parasympathetic nervous system.
The Rest and Restore Protocol™ is designed to entrain with the deeper body systems to reduce stuckness and increase flexibility and flow. From the point of view of PolyVagal Theory, it is working with the Dorsal Vagal branch of the parasympathetic nervous system.
Here is my general guidance for working with the Safe and Sound Protocol™ and/or the Rest and Restore Protocol™. This guidance is based on my personal experience, my experience with my clients, and what has been shared by others about their experiences and their clients’ experiences. This is just my perspective, and I am still learning. If you are working with an SSP or RRP provider, please follow their guidance.
Information SSP and RRP directly from Unyte
You can learn more about the SSP on the official Unyte/SSP website here:
You can learn more about the RRP on the official Unyte/RRP website here:
Rest and Restore Protocol™ from Unyte Health
Information on SSP and RRP from other providers
If you do a web search on “Safe and Sound Protocol” or “Rest and Restore Protocol” you will find articles on the websites of other providers. There are more SSP articles than RRP since the SSP has been around much longer. You might find it interesting to read the way other people present and explain these protocols.
About SSP
The Safe and Sound Protocol™ (SSP) was developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, based on his decades of research on the autonomic nervous system, auditory sensitivities, and emotional processes. The SSP is a sound-based therapy designed to provide cues of safety through filtered music.
A set of non-noise-cancelling over-the-ear headphones is required to get the desired therapeutic effect of the SSP. One very experienced SSP facilitator recommends OneOdio A70 or OneOdio A71 headphones. These two are similar but have slightly different sets of features. Note that Unyte offers an over the ear headphone model on their website. These are very comfortable; however, there is no volume control and sometimes I can’t get the volume low enough for my comfort. Unyte does sell their headphones in a child size.
The SSP consists of five hours of music. There are several different five-hour playlists available. Each is a collection of music of a different style, pop, classical, instrumental, and so on. Regardless of the playlist, the SSP includes three pathways of music (Connect, Core, and Balance). I won’t talk about Balance except to say that when used, it’s used after the full five hours of Core have been completed, and that most people don’t use it.
If you request SSP access through me, you will at first have access to several Connect music playlists. The Connect music is unfiltered. You can listen to those playlists as much as you like. It’s just music. My request is that you listen to one or more of the Connect playlists until you find one that you enjoy (or that is acceptable), then let me know your choice. Once you select a single playlist, I will make the corresponding Core playlist available to you.
The Core playlists are where the “medicine” is located, so to speak. This music is filtered in a way that stimulates signals of safety in the body and nervous system. Specifically, in the first hour of music, the middle range frequency bands that correspond to a modulated human voice are increased and the high and low frequencies that could signal threat or alarm are decreased. Then through the remaining four hours of music, the moderate frequency is gradually decreased toward normal and the high and low frequencies are gradually increased toward normal.
Here’s how I interpret this. The SSP starts out by inviting the body to really receive the signals of connection and safety. Then, once that connection is made, it invites the body to remain connected to safety even as signals of threat are introduced and increased. “You can be connected and supported even when difficult things are happening.”
At least part of how the SSP works relates to the physiology of the inner ear. This is the reason that over-the-ear headphones are recommended. However, it seems that the impacts on inner ear physiology are only a part of the body’s experience of and response to the SSP.
The Core playlists of SSP can have significant effects on the body and nervous system. Some people really enjoy listening, some find the experience neutral, and others find they can or only want to listen to the music for short periods of time.
Similar to modalities like intensive somatic therapy, acupuncture, cranial sacral work, or breathwork, you might notice new sensations, images, thoughts, or experiences that might be intense or subtle, uncomfortable or pleasant.
Because each person is different in their experience, the SSP needs to be approached with curiosity, respect, and a bit of caution.
Here is some general advice for titrating the SSP.
Before starting your listening, especially on your first several days of listening, do some sort of activity that invites your body to move in the direction of safety and settling. This could be taking some deep breaths, stretching, singing a chant, saying a prayer, gazing at someone or something that you love, connecting with gratitude for being alive, or anything that in some way connects you with safety and support in your body.
During the listening you might want to be near a pet or a family member or a stuffed animal, something that brings some sense of safe and gentle relationship. Unyte recommends that you do the initial session in the company of your provider. If you feel quite safe and relaxed with your provider, that is a good idea. And I know that for some people, being with another person just does not feel safe, secure and relaxed even if that person is their trauma healing provider. If that is you, then you might want to set yourself up in whatever space and with whatever surroundings feel most connected and comfortable for you.
Limit the first listening experience to no more than 10 minutes. If during that time you find yourself feeling stirred or activated, stop the session and spend some time doing regulating activities. Some people have a big response after even 30 seconds of music.
Listen to a segment of music once per day but it is ok to skip days.
If you become activated anytime while listening, stop for the day, be gentle with yourself, do regulating activities, and notice what there is to notice. Next day shorten the listening period and go from there.
If you have unusual or increasing symptoms occurring between listening sessions, take at least one day off, then start with a shorter duration of listening.
When listening, you can sit or lie down or do physical tasks. However, don’t do anything that requires mental concentration or significant physical effort, and don’t listen while driving.
When you complete a one-hour segment, wait until the next day to start the next segment, as the energies are different from one hour to the next.
If you are feeling relatively comfortable during and between sessions, you can increase the listening duration to as long as 30 minutes per day.
It’s also ok to take some days off between segments if it feels like your body would like that.
It’s also ok to take days off anytime, even during a segment if it feels like your body would like that.
Moving to a new segment might cause you to have a different experience. Be aware. You might find that you want to shorten or lengthen your listening time with the new segment.
Note that people who have a particularly pleasant and easy time with hour 1 of SSP may feel increasingly uncomfortable when they get to hours 4 and 5. If this describes you, then you may wish to reduce your daily listening time as you proceed.
Note that people who have a particularly uncomfortable time with hour 1 of the SSP may feel increasingly more comfortable when they get to hours 4 and 5. If this describes you, then you may wish to increase your daily listening time as you proceed.
Some users find that journaling about their SSP experience is helpful.
Many people, whether they notice a little or a lot with the listening, come to notice that in certain aspects of their lives, they feel different – easier, more comfortable, more spacious. It’s not necessarily clear that this change is related to the SSP. It just happens. These kinds of changes can show up within the first days of listening or anytime during the listening or days or weeks after completing the listening.
Once you have completed all five hours of listening, take a break for at least a month before beginning again.
It’s common for people to repeat the SSP multiple times and to see much greater positive change with the second or third listening than with the first.
While it’s (apparently) necessary to complete all five hours for optimal benefit, it is ok to repeat a particular hour if your body relates well to it or if you see good results. Just eventually complete all five hours.
One option, after completing all five hours, is to repeat just hours 3, 4, and 5, walking your body through the increased signals of danger while remaining connected to safety. That would not work well for me personally because my body really loves hour 1. When I listen to hour 1, I feel like I’m just lapping up comfort and nourishment.
Be aware, see what works, enjoy the transformation that comes.
About RRP
The Rest and Restore Protocol™ (RRP) is a sound-based therapy developed by Dr. Stephen Porges and Anthony Gorry. The music is designed to entrain with the systems in the body such breath and heartrate and to coax those systems to be less fixed, to have more flow. The music bypasses cognition and “speaks” directly to the body and the body systems.
“By fostering coherence and harmony within their neural pathways, RRP is designed to help individuals feel more at ease and to improve mental and physical well-being.” (Unyte quote from the above-linked page.)
The RRP consists of ten 30-minute music segments. The baseline music, Springs Prelude, is the same for all segments. The first segment, RRP Introduction, is straight music.
RRP Levels 1, 2, and 3 introduce and increase variability in the tempo and volume of the music throughout the remaining segments.
The RRP can be listened to using headphones, with or without noise cancelling, or it can be listened to with good quality speakers. (Not phone or laptop speakers.)
RRP is a therapeutic modality that can have significant effects on the body and nervous system. Some people feel very uncomfortable or very comfortable just listening to the music for a short period of time. Some very rough comparisons might be to intensive somatic therapy or acupuncture or cranial sacral work or breathwork or hypnotherapy or the use of plant medicines. Stuff might happen, stuff might move, stuff might get stirred up, you might feel stuff.
Because each person is different in their experience, the RRP needs to be approached with curiosity, respect, and a bit of caution.
Here is some general advice for titrating the RRP.
If you are comfortable listening to the RRP Introduction, you can listen to the entire segment in one sitting. However, even though the Introduction is not filtered, some people still find the music triggering or destabilizing, either during listening or after. If listening to the introduction feels unpleasant in any way, limit it to no more than 10 minutes.
Listen to a segment of music once every other day, not every day like with the SSP. And it is always ok to skip any number of days at any time. It is recommended to not listen every day.
If you are aware of a moderate or big reaction to the music, do not move on to the next track. Continue to repeat the current track, even the introduction, until there is a greater level of comfort both during and between listening.
The same guidance applies to RRP Levels 1, 2, and 3.
If you continue to feel comfortable with the music, you can listen to a full 30-minute segment each listening day.
If you are aware of a moderate reaction, repeat either the same track or the entirety of the level (3 tracks) until the reaction subsides.
When listening, you can sit or lie down or do physical tasks. However, don’t do anything that requires mental concentration or significant physical effort, and don’t listen while driving.
If you become activated or uncomfortable anytime while listening, stop for the day, be gentle with yourself, do regulating activities, and notice what there is to notice. Next time shorten the listening period and go from there.
If you have unusual or increasing symptoms occurring between listening sessions, take at least a few days off, then start with a shorter duration of listening. Note that it’s common for people to have symptoms of dysregulation when using the RRP and to not link those symptoms to the RRP and not even notice the symptoms for some time.
The RRP can be destabilizing because it is nudging our body saying, “You don’t have to be fixed and stuck. You can move and flow in a good way.” But our fixity and stuckness are serving a purpose. Ultimately, we want less fixity and more flow, but our body won’t allow any dramatic or abrupt changes. So, we can end up in sort of a tug of war with the RRP, where we can’t settle into any sort of nervous system baseline. Our body is trying to find a place of relative fixity to work from and the RRP keeps nudging, saying “Don’t be fixed!”
Because of this, here are my personal recommendations around timing.
21 days from the start of listening to RRP, take a 7 day break, no matter how much or how little of the program you have made it through.
60 days from the start of listening to RRP, if you have not yet completed the program, I strongly recommend that you take a break for at least 20 days, then start from the beginning. The RRP can be affecting you in ways that you would never associate with the RRP. See what you notice as you take that break.
Once you have completed the program, take a break for at least a month before beginning again.
Where to start? SSP or RRP?
When the RRP was released recently, there was the idea that it was “gentler” than the SSP and was a better starting place for people with highly disorganized nervous systems. After months of experience with many clients, the word on the street is that for some people for whom the SSP is difficult, the RRP is indeed gentle and friendly. However for other people, the RRP is really difficult, bodies have big reactions and responses.
My sense is that using the RRP requires some reference points for safety to be present in the body. It seems that if the body and nervous system feel profoundly and fundamentally unsafe, the RRP makes demands on the body that the body cannot meet. If you think that describes you, I recommend starting with the SSP and starting with short listening periods.
If you aren’t sure, you could test drive both and just see what your experience is, see what your body is drawn to. It is acceptable to alternate between both programs. Doing that might mean that you don’t know which program is bringing the benefit that comes – or the complications that come. But it can be ok not to know, and you are welcome to try both if that calls to you.
My Overall Advice for people with challenging nervous systems
Most of my clients are people with highly disorganized nervous systems. Most of the people who are drawn to my website are people with highly disorganized nervous systems. If that might describe you and you have not yet done so, I recommend that you read my article on Global High Intensity Activation here.
Here’s the good news about having a highly disorganized nervous system: You have a lot of practice navigating and managing the weirdness that shows up in your body and your emotions. People who have an easier time inside their bodies can often look at us and see our challenge and intensity and then think that we are always about to break into bits. But we’ve been dealing with all this stuff for a long time.
Here’s the bad news: Our complicated nervous systems and bodies can have really big reactions to small things. More bad news: There are ways that we are disconnected from some of the signals that our bodies are trying to send us.
So my advice is to not be over-cautious and terrified, but to be curious and aware, and to make a point of checking in with your body in whatever ways work for you. And if there are any warning signs, take is easy. Take breaks. Then try again.
There’s no rush here. We are seeking to shift and to ultimately dismantle some inner structures that have been fixed in place for a very long time, replacing them with structures that have more give and more flow. That’s a tall and tricky order. It is great and exciting news that we’ve gotten to the place where we have some idea about what’s going on in our bodies, beliefs, and nervous systems, even if we can’t change things easily. We are here at the threshold of what’s next. Breathe, try the things, the SSP or the RRP or whatever practices and activities you’ve found that support you. Try the things gently and see what comes. And remember to connect to whatever Connection, Containment, Safety and Support exists for you.
Feedback?
If you have anything to add to what I’ve said here, or if, based on your personal experience, anything I’ve said is misleading, confusing or incomplete, I really welcome your input. My intention is to provide general guidance that can help people navigate, and I know that I don’t have a full and complete picture.
Getting SSP or RRP Access
If you want to access the SSP and/or RRP I recommend that you purchase access from someone with whom you already have a working relationship if that’s available. Since these protocols will stir things up, it is essential to have good support in place before starting either protocol and during the period you are using the protocol.
There are many people offering SSP or RRP access in individual or group settings that includes walking you through the process and being present with you as you encounter whatever comes up.
If you have good support in place but your personal providers don’t offer SSP or RRP access, I might be able to provide you with access. To do this I require a one hour call. On that call, based both on what you tell me and on how I experience your nervous system to be managing, I will assess whether the combination of your inner resources and your support systems are sufficient to hold you through this process without direct hand-holding from an SSP or RRP provider. One prerequisite is that you do have some sort of healing provider, a therapist or coach or counselor OR that you yourself are a trauma healing provider. This is totally not a sales pitch. If you have someone to go to who can provide you with access, go there!
If you might be interested in accessing either protocol while receiving transformational trauma coaching sessions from me, then you can schedule a Discovery Call with me.
Either of those calls can be scheduled here.