Your Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is always seeking states of health, wellness, balance, variety, and ultimately, to ensure your safety and survival. To do this, it scans for information in faces, voices, environments, vibes, and the sensations inside your own body, even before you become consciously aware of it! There’s so much happening beyond our conscious awareness. When all is well, our mind, body and intuition are a phenomenal team.

Sometimes, life teaches our ANS to expect threats or to stop registering threats for what they are. This can happen through experiences of trauma, adversity, and certain types of training and conditioning. And sometimes, we may be wired in a way that changes how we take in and process the world and our own experiences. This may be because we have neurodevelopmental and sensory differences. As you can see, for these reasons and more, things get complicated and it can be hard to register the cues of safety and connection that are actually here in our life right now.

This is where the SSP comes in. Developed by Dr Stephen Porges, the researcher behind Polyvagal Theory, it uses music that has been filtered to emphasise the range of frequencies of the human voice. The range of frequencies is limited to start with, then it gradually expands to the full range over a total of five hours of music. As you listen, these cues of safety and connection are delivered directly to your ANS via the biological processes activated through your inner ear and vagus nerve. The other important factor here is co-regulation with an attuned other during listening. This is a big part of my role in sessions as a trained and certified SSP provider.

The SSP can be helpful for those who:

• Have experienced trauma and adversity which continues to impact their life

• Have persistent challenges with depression and anxiety

• Are neurodivergent

• Experience challenges in sensory processing

• Are wanting to improve their nervous system regulation and flexibility but are looking for an alternative to talk therapy, or something that will complement talk therapy

• Are looking for a therapy that supports a more embodied connection to themselves

• Are looking for a therapy that supports them in becoming open and receptive to other people, the present moment, and cues of safety and connection in their day-to-day life

• Are wanting to increase their tolerance for experiencing neutral and positive feelings

• and more

Here is a very general overview of the SSP journey.

Intake and Assessment. This is where we will thoroughly explore your needs, goals, and begin mapping your ANS to ensure you receive the SSP in a way that is therapeutically paced and titrated. The intake and assessment phase can be therapeutic and challenging in its own right, which is also accounted for from the moment of your enquiry.

SSP Planning. We will create a plan that details things like which SSP pathway you will begin with, playlist selection, set up for in-person or remote listening, preparation for the technical and experiential sides of the therapy, etc.

SSP Delivery. The SSP Core Program is five hours in total but is delivered in therapeutic segments rather than all at once. The listening component of the session will typically be a maximum of 30 minutes. You and I will both be monitoring how you’re responding throughout and adjust as we go. During listening, you are welcome to do slower, low-demand activities such as drawing, colouring, stretching, simple puzzles, etc. Nothing too effortful or attention grabbing. It’s important that you can still notice what you’re experiencing and communicate that to me when you need to. Something I’d like to really highlight is that the listening portion of the therapy will need to be tolerable for your ANS (stretch and savour rather than stress and snap). Feeling safe, connected, grounded and embodied can actually feel triggering for some people, especially where trauma, adversity, and certain types of training and conditioning have been a part of life’s experiences. This is where we can bring in different approaches and other modalities like EMDR to support your experience, processing and outcomes.

SSP Review. Once you’ve completed the listening program, we will explore your experience and changes. We will also review your needs as they are now, and discuss the follow up process and possible next steps.

• You do not need a special referral to access the SSP, you can just contact InterBloom directly

• The SSP can be accessed under most referral pathways as outlined [here] however, you may need confirmation and approvals from third party funding bodies, eg. NDIS

• There is a one-off Client Registration Fee of $200 (including GST). This covers the cost of the Unyte Health licence required for delivery of the SSP and is accessible for a 12-month period. This means you can continue to use the SSP maintenance playlists during and after the completion of the SSP listening therapy

• The SSP can be delivered as a stand-alone therapy or adjunct therapy alongside your other allied health and/or therapy supports

• If you are looking to proceed with counselling and therapy at InterBloom, the SSP can be incorporated into our sessions and enhanced by other modalities such as EMDR

• For more information about the SSP, you can head to Unyte Health’s website [What is the SSP]

• For more information about your Autonomic Nervous System, this YouTube video is a great resource

• If you’re interested in doing a deeper dive, I can recommend the book [Safe and Sound: A Polyvagal Approach for Connection, Change and Healing]