Autistic Adult Overcomes Auditory Hypersensitivity with the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)

The information presented in this case study was submitted by the identified provider and reviewed by the Unyte Clinical Team. Modifications to the text have been made solely for the purpose of enhancing comprehension and clarity for the reader’s benefit, and were carefully applied while ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the original submission. Unyte Health makes every effort to use updated terms and inclusive language, this case study retains the author’s original descriptions to be most sensitive to the client’s identity and preferences.

---

About the Provider

Name: Magda Kasprzyk
Disciplines/credentials: Integrative Psychotherapist
Modalities: Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)

---

Client Background

Name: Ola (pseudonym)
Age and Gender: Woman, 47 years old
Program Delivered:

• Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)
  • SSP Connect: Hours 1-5
  • SSP Core: Hours 1-5
  • SSP Balance: Hours 1-5

Ola sought services primarily to address the severe auditory hypersensitivity she was experiencing. Prior to beginning the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP), every noise acted as a significant trigger for her. She did not even listen to music and required complete silence at home.

Ola had been diagnosed with autism as an adult a few years prior and had an extensive history of psychotherapeutic work addressing a traumatic childhood. At the time of intake, she was well-functioning, professionally employed, married, and the mother of a teenage daughter. Despite her overall high level of functioning, her severe sound sensitivity and hyper-reactivity to sudden, unexpected sounds remained a profound daily challenge.

---

Implementation of the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)

The SSP was delivered remotely following a one-hour online consultation. Ola began by listening to SSP Connect and completed the pathway about a month later. Following SSP Connect, she participated in an online group workshop focused on the SSP, which integrated mindfulness, breathwork and psychoeducation.

Ola then transitioned to SSP Core and completed it in about seven weeks. The SSP was delivered with deliberate titration; she listened for 10 minutes every two days. She initially attempted to listen daily, but found a slower pace to be more supportive to her nervous system. Alongside the listening, her provider, Magda Kasprzyk, used supporting activities, including psychoeducation, co-regulation during group meetings and individual phone calls, and regulating somatic practices such as breathwork, Qigong, visualization and exercises from Dr. Stanley Rosenberg.

Around Hour 4 of SSP Core, Ola experienced a temporary period of nightmares involving sounds. Through self-regulation and co-regulatory support from her provider, she was able to navigate this shift safely. Following the completion of SSP Core, she successfully transitioned to the  SSP Balance pathway.

Response 

Following completion of the SSP, Ola’s severe auditory hypersensitivity completely disappeared, and the therapeutic effects have been maintained over time.

During a post-program evaluation, Ola rated the program a 9 out of 10 and shared the following subjective feedback via a questionnaire:

• Why did you sign up for the Safe and Sound Protocol group program?
  “I wanted to help myself and reduce my hypersensitivity to sounds and hyper-reactivity to sudden unexpected sounds.”
• What topic/practice/discovery was most important to you?
  “The listening itself, which had an effect. The Rosenberg exercises were also a discovery. I didn’t know them before, and they are effective. :)”
• What specific changes in yourself did you notice during/after the program (behavior, relationships, attitude towards yourself, mood, etc.)?
  “During the course, I felt agitation, anxiety at times. That’s why I stretched listening over time. At the same time, I observed an improvement in noise tolerance.”
• What would you change in the program?
  “I don’t know, it was OK. 🙂 Maybe add some theory about feeling emotions in the body, about embodied cognition, about how past experiences are recorded in the body and in the unconscious?”
• Do you think that working with me was a good experience/our contact was helpful? If yes, what specifically do you think worked well? If no, why?
  “Yes, you gave a lot of personal warmth and support.”
• Would you recommend the training to a friend? What specifically would you tell her?
  “Yes. I would say that it worked for me, and that it’s worth trying when dealing with hypersensitivity and hyper-reactivity to noise.”

Ola was highly enthusiastic about her outcomes. Due to her profound success with the SSP, her 12-year-old daughter also began the SSP afterward.

Discussion

Magda attributes the outstanding success of this intervention to two main factors: the client’s extensive history of prior psychotherapeutic work and the precise matching of the modality to the client’s primary clinical complaint.

Ola was exceptionally mindful of her physiological responses and the needs of her body. This interoceptive awareness allowed for an optimal, highly customized titration of the SSP, and careful pacing helped Ola’s nervous system integrate the acoustic stimulation effectively, ultimately leading to the resolution of her long-standing auditory hypersensitivity.