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Two Powerful Tools for Trauma Recovery: The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) and the Rest and Restore Protocol (RRP)

Updated: Oct 30, 2025

For individuals living with PTSD, C-PTSD, anxiety, or depression, everyday life can feel like a minefield. Chronic stress, emotional reactivity, and physical exhaustion can keep the nervous system stuck in survival mode — making it hard to feel safe, rested, or connected.

While traditional talk therapy is essential for many, it often isn’t enough on its own. That’s where nervous system-focused protocols like the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) and the Rest and Restore Protocol (RRP) can make a transformative difference.


As a certified provider of both SSP and RRP, I help clients discern which approach is best for their unique journey — and in many cases, we use both. Each protocol works differently, but both support trauma recovery by retraining the body and brain to feel safe, present, and resilient again.



What Are SSP and RRP?

🧠 The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)

Developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, SSP uses specially filtered music to stimulate the vagus nerve, helping shift the body out of fight-or-flight and into a state of safety and connection. It’s grounded in Polyvagal Theory and is particularly effective for those with sensory sensitivities, anxiety, trauma histories, or emotional dysregulation.



🎵 The Rest and Restore Protocol (RRP)

RRP is a rhythm-based protocol that works through the principle of entrainment — using consistent, carefully designed rhythms to help the nervous system find a steady beat. As the brain and body begin to synchronize with the music, clients often experience improved interoception (inner awareness), enhanced rest, and increased self-regulation. It's especially powerful for those who need support finding their internal rhythm or calming a chaotic internal state.


Both protocols are non-invasive, music-based, and designed to work from the bottom up — meaning they influence the nervous system directly, without requiring verbal processing.


How SSP and RRP Help Heal Trauma


1. Restoring a Sense of Safety in the Body

One of the most common and painful effects of trauma is the loss of felt safety — even in peaceful environments. Both SSP and RRP help down-regulate the nervous system and allow the body to feel safe again.


  • SSP achieves this through subtle shifts in vocal frequencies, calming the vagus nerve and activating the social engagement system.

  • RRP, through its steady, predictable rhythms, helps the body move out of chaos and toward internal coherence.


Clients often describe this phase of the work as the first time they’ve felt truly relaxed or grounded in years.


2. Improving Emotional Regulation

Trauma survivors often feel hijacked by their emotions — swinging from overwhelm to shutdown. Both SSP and RRP create the physiological conditions for emotional stability, making it easier to stay present without becoming flooded or numb.


  • SSP helps reduce hyperarousal and improves access to calm, connected states.

  • RRP supports entrainment — helping the nervous system “catch” a steady beat and return to balance more easily after a stressor.


Clients often report fewer emotional outbursts, easier transitions, and a growing sense of control.


3. Reducing Fatigue and Physical Symptoms

When the body is stuck in survival mode, it burns through energy reserves quickly. Symptoms like fatigue, tension, digestive issues, and sleep disruption are common in trauma recovery.


  • SSP often helps clients sleep better, feel more rested, and notice fewer physical signs of stress.

  • RRP enhances restorative states by engaging the parasympathetic nervous system, allowing the body to drop into deep rest and recovery.


4. Rebuilding Connection and Social Resilience

Trauma often isolates people — not just socially, but physiologically. When the nervous system perceives danger, it becomes harder to make eye contact, tolerate touch, or trust others.


  • SSP directly improves the pathways responsible for social engagement, making it easier to reenter relationships with safety.

  • RRP indirectly supports connection by building internal safety and increasing the body’s capacity for co-regulation.


Clients often report renewed ability to engage with family, friends, or even strangers — with more confidence and comfort.


How I Help Clients Choose Between SSP and RRP

Every nervous system is different. That’s why I take a collaborative, trauma-informed approach to determine which protocol (or combination) is the right fit.


  • SSP may be the better fit if you're struggling with sound sensitivity, emotional reactivity, or long-standing trauma patterns.

  • RRP may be ideal if your system is stuck in freeze, if you struggle with interoception (noticing your internal state), or if deep rest feels out of reach.

  • Many clients benefit from both over time — beginning with one and layering in the other as nervous system capacity grows.


Is SSP or RRP Right for Your Trauma Healing Journey?

If you’ve done a lot of work to heal but still feel like your body is stuck in old patterns, it may be time to try a bottom-up approach. The SSP and RRP protocols offer powerful, evidence-based ways to retrain your nervous system for safety, connection, and resilience.


At Retune Health, I offer customized care that starts right where you are. Whether you’re just beginning your healing journey or deepening the work, we’ll explore which approach is most supportive for your goals..


👉 Book a free consultation to learn how these gentle, science-backed protocols can support your healing from the inside out.


References


✍️ About the Author

Andrea Goodwin is a Somatic Coach and the founder of Retune Health, a science-backed, heart-centered wellness practice that helps high achievers and wellness seekers regulate their nervous systems, release subconscious stress patterns, and restore balance in body, mind, and spirit.


With over 20 years of experience as a healthcare executive, Andrea brings a unique blend of real-world leadership, clinical insight, and holistic care to her work. Because burnout and overwhelm show up in our bodies, minds, and energy, she offers deeply personalized, mind-body-spirit support to help clients feel more grounded, clear, and alive — often in ways they never thought possible.


Through 1:1 sessions, group programs, and integrative experiences, Andrea guides clients toward a more intuitive, connected, and joyful way of being.


🌿 Explore sessions or subscribe to the newsletter at www.retunehealth.com

📍 Based in the northwest suburbs of Chicago | Virtual sessions available worldwide

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