Professional Feedback

With the digital version of SSP I now have near instantaneous delivery of the SSP to my clients who are all in different locations and countries. No shipping. No broken / unreturned headphones. No waiting and hoping the SSP makes it to the client prior the scheduled Day 1 session. It’s a game changer. I can focus on being there for them and supporting them more easily and faster.

The digital version of SSP delivery is easy to navigate. I just select a playlist and session on my digital device and just pick up from where we left off if I have to pause with a client. My patients mostly have speech-language-auditory processing disorders including autism, learning disability, stuttering, emotional reactivity, anxiety, attention, speech in noise issues, endurance, and developmental delays. It seems most helpful for those with emotional reactivity to auditory input, and anxiety. Some see overt improvement with speech in noise issues, and anxiety.

I have been using the new digital SSP version and am delighted to be able to offer it to clients needing support without any delay in shipping and without concerns of contamination regarding equipment. I can select whether my clients have access to the children's playlist, adult playlist, or both. A few weeks ago I had a client that was struggling...I was able to send the email invite and she began using SSP with my support in the safety of her home the very next day. What a gift to have a digital tool, especially during this time of great need.

Safe, sound, and simple. The level of ease and simplicity that comes with SSP digital delivery contributes to keeping the experience within reach of the nervous system’s capacity to safely engage.

I have had characteristics of complex PTSD, as well as developmental issues due to isolation from 10 weeks to one year of age. As a teenager I once had the opportunity to swim in the ocean at Jones Beach near New York City. The tide was going out, and quickly I was a long way from land. I paddled frantically to keep my head above the rough water. Suddenly a hand placed itself under my belly and lifted me over the swell that I hadn't been able to reach and cross on my own. The lifeguard had seen me in danger and carried me to safety. I had the same experience of being saved by someone I didn't even know in June, 2019, when I put on special headphones and listened to a five-hour music program called the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) developed by Stephen Porges. I had never consciously felt the continuous panic that I'd lived with since infancy--but I noticed it as soon as I finished the SSP because suddenly it was gone. I didn't have to overeat. I could exercise rather than holding my body as still as possible. For the first time in nearly three decades I felt like a survivor looking back at long journey, not a victim without any way to escape. BENEFITS:

• My thoracic diaphragm and the joint in the middle of my breastbone relaxed completely for the first time since my suffocation accident. Since then it has been easier to breathe, and the tension in those two areas has not returned.
• I was able to adhere to the diet to bring my cholesterol down in a way that I couldn't before because the diet previously triggered a sense of danger, and now it doesn't.
• I stopped feeling like I was an unknowable type of person and would always be alone. I went to a piano recital given by an acquaintance and he and everyone greeted me warmly.
• Suddenly I could work continuously without becoming panicked every hour and needing to eat to calm myself.
• I was able to cook for myself and exercise, activities that previously make me feel nervous and unsafe.
• My concept of myself shifted from victim to survivor.

I suffered a traumatic experience with severe bullying three years ago. I was diagnosed with PTSD and even had to come home to be homeschooled because I kept getting triggered when little incidents that would occur with other students. After I finished the SSP, I was less grumpy all the time. My mother noticed the most difference because I am not arguing with her near as much as I used to. I am much happier now.

I was a little skeptical about how well the SSP would work for me. I cannot believe how less reactive I am. I view the world completely differently. I can connect with my family in a deeper way. People around me have noticed the difference.

I want to let you know that I feel that the SSP seems to have rebooted my emotions relative to grieving for my sister. My face feels more expressive, there is more modulation in my voice, and I feel less of a wall between me and the world. Yay!!!!!

This girl and her family have attempted many different therapeutic interventions over the developmental years and unfortunately were discouraged with the outcomes. The positive results on the SSP have provided this family with encouragement and hope.

We have tried so many other things with minimal help – we just never got to the core of the issue – the SSP got to the core.

It is so important for us at the Practitioner level to learn of this research to adjust what we do or support what we bring to the community in our treatment.  I am grateful to have heard from the experts and especially loved hearing them discuss, problem solve questions presented to them in the panel forum.

I just have to share some exciting news. I started working with a very close friend of mine who was diagnosed with alzheimers he is 63 years old. He recently came back from Mayo clinic in which they said there is nothing they can do. I started him on the Focus System; he has completed 9 sessions with considerable progress. I've been called by his therapist who specializes in Alzheimers, who wants to consult with me and to do a inservice for their staff. Today J. had his headphones on and was able to read the newspaper for the first time in months. He has noticed that when he has the headphones on, he is more focused and complete more tasks. I'm hoping as we progress through the program, he will have a longer term progress. This is so encouraging.

I am a speech-language pathologist and have specialized in auditory processing disorders for 16 years. My number one preferred therapy has always been the Lindamood-Bell programs and no other therapy has ever lived up to my standards until the Focus System. I now use a combination of the Focus System and Lindamood-Bell therapies together which has produced far better results than with the Lindamood-Bell programs alone. My clients learn to visualize much faster which leads to significant improvements in their comprehension and memory in a much shorter time than with my previous techniques. I also commonly see improvements in some visual skills, auditory discrimination skills, writing, thinking processing speed, attention and focus, balance, coordination, listening in background noise, listening to muffled speech, reading, spelling, some improvement in math and overall confidence. Certain clients have exhibited improvements other than those listed above but in my practice these are the most common improvements. Having a tool that can address areas that I was unable to reach before has been very exciting as a therapist. The Focus System is also pleasant and easy. Previous to incorporating iLs the therapies utilized in my clinic were demanding and hard work for therapist, parent and child. Although I still use these techniques, I use them in a modified form and do parent teaching so parents can use these tools at home. The children need much less practice with the techniques because the Focus System has increased their skills and abilities so that everything taught to them is learned more easily and rapidly. The Focus System is also a great tool for increasing speech and language skills. I had a four year old boy who spoke in one word utterances, was unintelligible to those outside of family members more than 50% of the time and was not toilet trained. I have personally found that the effects of iLs are greatly enhanced when incorporating other therapies along with it, however, we did nothing but the Focus System with this little boy. By the end of the program his speech improved by 50%, he spoke in 3 to 6 word sentences and he was toilet trained. He also exhibited much more confidence. I highly recommend iLs to speech-language pathologists and every other type of therapist. It truly is a highly effective, fun and pleasant therapy. It has changed my life as well as many of the lives of my clients.

Dear Unyte, Our gains were so dramatic that our principal will buy 2 units for next years’ use. We will need some type of bill of sale so we can submit it. We are thinking of doing some type of lab next year with intense 6 weeks sessions. Probably our most dramatic case was with our student with autism. He read on grade level with 100% comprehension on his assessment last week. He also does not get car sick anymore. I have to test this student but have tested the other four students who all had very dramatic changes on the Beery’s three subtest. We will be running kids during the school day next year, and I have some questions about other activities they might do while listening. When is a good time to reach you to discuss by phone? We are so excited about the results at our school!

Hi Dr. Minson, Hope you’re doing well. I wanted to touch base with you regarding my 2nd case study, Anastasia. She has completed 15 sessions with SI bandwidths, FSM & EHS. She has made the following progress:

• She has begun dressing herself independently
• She has become more easy going , organized & cooperative per clinic observations & Mom’s report
• She is completing bilateral coordination tasks with far greater ease
• She has become more attentive to her surroundings & now is beginning to appropriately follow conversations with others & contribute
• She is now noticing when others are speaking to her from other rooms & will ask “what?”
• She is showing improvements in recognizing boundaries for writing capital letters

For her gradual filtration stage I was planning 10 sessions, 111(10) >7. This is to give her more time with each of these frequencies considering her complicated history & significant processing deficits. I would like to maximize her time with SI bandwidths to assist in addressing remaining vestibular processing issues. Her balance will remain at 0 due to her history of seizures, I will set the bone conduction at 2. Hope I’m on the right track! Thank you so much.