SSP Group Experience: Social/Emotional Reset

Is constant information and stimulus holding your system in threat response - fight, flight, collapse - despite your inner circle actually being good enough? There is a lot out there and sometimes it's our internal patterns that hold us stuck.

The nervous system and its protective patterns can interfere with adequate care of ourselves and others. It can set off protective patterns out of our awareness, further agitated by increased changes around us that it is sorting as threatening and safe in the present, regardless of how the thinking mind rationalizes or justifies the changes. Regardless how others want to 'get you' to be.

Find compassion for this phenomenon, which can be a natural artifact of life lived. It’s not that you are doing it wrong or aren’t trying enough. The hooks just run deep. An approach that reaches the hooks from within the nervous system can be a complement to your current approach.

SSP Group Experience for Social/Emotional Reset provides a hybrid approach for conducting the Safe and Sound Protocol.  Group sessions are used for preparation exercises, to introduce each of the five hours of the algorithm, and teach strategies to support your system through the exercise. Participants then complete an individualized course of listening through the week with tools for self-monitoring.

This allows the collective capacity to support and extend coregulation potential. While also allowing flexibility for individuals to meet the needs of their individual system and schedule.

Who is this for:

If you are an SSP Provider and participating as Experiential Mentoring, please let Shelly know.

In general, this SSP program is appropriate for

• Anyone who has previously completed the SSP and is looking to expand the social component of the exercise.

• People who want to enhance the outcomes in their active therapy or coaching with another provider.

• Participants of the Hidden Hooks program, or through other programs, who have identified:

  • Patterns of emotional and/or social inhibition as a proactive or reactive internal dynamic.

  • Lack of trust or disconnection in the emotional system.

  • Hyperattunement in sensory system (internal or external) as a contribution to false alarms into survival.

  • Dependence on others to meet emotional needs.

This format does not include ‘therapy’. We will have limited time each session to learn and expand understanding through personal reflection and the option to share. It is assumed that participants are actively working with or have easy access to appropriate resources.

A group experience of the Safe and Sound Protocol is not a fit for everyone.  If the SSP is new to you, the initial assessment/baseline is required to be completed prior to Week 3 of the program. This allows an individualized experience through the SSP listening component of the program.

What is the SSP?

The Safe and Sound Protocol is an auditory algorithm designed to tone the ventral vagus complex of the autonomic nervous system. Incorporated with additional exercises and tracking, it has demonstrated the development of expanded capacity for feeling safe in social interactions, emotional expression and reception, as well as the resolution of incomplete relational trauma imprints. As it is a passive intervention, we cannot make anything happen; we can create space to allow transformation to happen.

Learn more at www.whatisthessp.com or check out the recent book by Karen Onderko and Stephen Porges.

Logistics:

• Weekly sessions for 9 weeks

• Online via zoom

• 105 minutes minutes per session

• Group size will range from 6-12 participants

• Conflicts can arise. When a session is missed, you are asked to do a 1-1 coaching session with Shelly to stay on track with the group pace.

• Participants have the option to schedule 30-minute coaching sessions mid-week for additional support.

Weekly Flow:

1: Introduction: Grounding and Intention

2: Engagement: Mutuality & Dynamics

3: SSP Hour 1 *

4: SSP Hour 2 *

5: SSP Hour 3 *

6: SSP Hour 4 *

7: SSP Hour 5 *

8: Shifts in Social/Emotional Safeness

9: Your Next Steps

*Includes exercises and tools to understand and support bidirectional flow of emotional information within the bodymind and with others.

Cost:

• $600 per participant

• Includes initial assessment/baseline (questionnaires and 30-minute 1-1 session with Shelly). (Value: $200)

• Includes license to Unyte Health app.

• Participants purchase their own headphones; suggestions will be provided for adequate quality at a cost of around $70.

• Additional individual coaching sessions are available for $100 per 30-minute session during the time of the program.

Common Questions & The Answers:

• Is this a therapy group?

  • No, it is not a therapy group not a support group. It is an educational and experiental program.

  • So it is available to anyone, anywhere who wants to learn and develop forward from their current patterns.

  • Experiencing the SSP during the program deepens the learning and allows restorative change at the same time. This is consistent with nature, not a treatment plan.

• Am I expected to complete the 5-hour protocol in the 9 weeks?

  • No expectation for it and it is possible for many participants. During our initial baseline, we will identify the SSP Pathway and cadence that matches current functioning. Benefits are enhanced when we match it to your system and resources. Get ready to work on that protective part that wants to 'push through' because this is an experience that, with nervous system restoration, less is often more!

• Do I have to participate in the group?

  • You are invited to participate as you are able. For some people, that is showing up. For others, it is asking a question or sharing their experience. This program is about developing more safeness in social context. The social context of the group allows development to happen.

  • In Week 2, we will talk about options for being on and off camera during the portions of the sessions that include listening to the SSP.

• What is the format of the virtual sessions?

  • The approximate breakdown of each session

    • 10 min - Questions from the week (into chat, 1-2 live)

    • 10 min - Transition Exercise

    • 25 min - Presentation of the topic for the week with worksheet

    • 40 min - Set-up, self-monitored listening, and guided-reflection(s)

      • In weeks 1, 2, and 9, self-exploration activities will replace listening

    • 15 min - Questions & Sharing

    • 5 min - Individual Plan for the week