Should I Do the SSP in a Group or Individually?
Should I do the SSP in a group or individually?" I get this question a lot. Here are 5 signs an SSP group might be a beautiful fit for your nervous system — and 1 sign it might not be.
This question comes up a lot: "Should I do the SSP in a group or individually?"
If you've been wondering the same thing, this is for you.
I've been leading SSP Groups and individual experiences for a few years now, and I've had a lot of conversations with folks trying to figure out which path is right for them. What I've learned is that your answer will always be unique to you and your nervous system — but there are some patterns I keep seeing. So I wanted to share some signs that an SSP group will probably be a beautiful fit, and when it might not be.
Hopefully these words, gleaned from years of leading groups, help you hear your own answer. 💞
Not sure what the SSP even is yet? Start here → Common Misconceptions about the Safe & Sound Protocol or visit whatisthessp.com
5 reasons an SSP Group might be the right fit for you:
💞 Connection & Co-Regulation
In a group, you can experience co-regulation and collective support — and the feeling that you're not alone. Your nervous system gets to practice being in relationship with relative safety alongside others on the same SSP journey.
There's something that happens in a group container that just can't be replicated in 1:1 work. When your nervous system is in the room (even a virtual room!) with other nervous systems that are also orienting toward safety, something shifts. You're not doing this alone, and your body knows it.
💰 More Affordable than 1:1 SSP
The group model makes this healing work more accessible. You get the full SSP experience for way less than a 1:1 container — think of it like community acupuncture. Same healing, different (and honestly kind of magical) container.
And groups aren't overwhelming — it's a cozy gathering of 4-6 folks. Not a big room full of strangers. A small handful of people finding their way toward safety together.
📅 13-Week Steady Structure with Weekly Sessions
We move through the SSP together over 13 weeks, which offers a clear container (with flexibility, of course!). Group members often report feeling anchored by our weekly time together — like having something steady to come back to, no matter what the week held.
If you're someone who does better with rhythm and predictability, that weekly anchor can be genuinely regulating in itself.
💬 Group Processing & Support
There's time to share about your experience and be deeply heard — if you want to. (It's also more than okay to be quiet! No forced sharing, ever.) You get to connect with folks who get what you're going through — the wins, the struggles, the "whoa that was so cool!" moments.
Being witnessed by people who are in it with you is its own kind of medicine.
🦋 You're Nervous AND Excited About Group Healing
If you're feeling a mix of nervous and excited about joining a group, that's often a good sign that you'll have a wonderful time. That particular combination — a little scared, a little brave — tends to show up when something is genuinely right for us, even if it's a stretch.
Not sure if your nervous/excited ratio is pointing toward yes? I can help you hear a clear answer on a connection call. 💞
"I'll admit it: When I'd first heard of Safe and Sound Protocol, I was… skeptical. After ten weeks of listening and several months to integrate everything, I am in disbelief over how SSP has not only helped me, but has challenged what I thought I knew about my own neurodivergence and mental health." — Sam, SSP Group Participant
1 reason a group might NOT be right for you (right now):
Sometimes, being in a group is too much for a sensitive nervous system that needs more 1:1 support. If you sense that a shared space might be more activating than supportive for you right now — that a group would ask more of your nervous system than it can comfortably offer — that's really important information, and it deserves to be honored.
This doesn't mean groups are off the table forever. It might just mean that right now, a 1:1 experience is the gentler, more supported container for where you are. And that's a completely valid answer.
You can learn more about what an individual SSP experience looks like at softpathhealing.com/ssp-individual.
Still not sure?
That's what connection calls are for. After you apply, we get on a short Zoom together and just... talk. You can ask me anything, I can share more about the SSP and how I hold groups, and we can figure out together whether a group or 1:1 is the right fit for you.
No pressure. Just a conversation.
Want to go even deeper on the group vs. individual question? I wrote a longer, more detailed version of this here → SSP Group vs. Individual: A Deeper Look.
Ready to join an SSP Group? 💫
If you're craving community and steadiness around your healing journey, I'd love to have you. And if groups feel like too much right now? That's important information too — and I'm still here to help you find the right fit.
Two groups are open right now — the only ones until Fall:
🎶 Wednesday Evening Group | Starting March 4th, 6:30–8:45 PM EST | 4 spaces open
🎶 Monday Evening Group | Starting April 6th, 6:30–8:45 PM EST | 6 spaces open
Still not sure? Reach out and let me know what questions you have. I'm here to help you figure out what feels right for your nervous system. 🦋
Jess Jackson (she/they) is a trauma-informed practitioner, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), and SSP provider at Soft Path Healing, based in Midcoast Maine and working virtually with clients across the globe.
LEAVING IS NOT ALWAYS THE SAFEST OPTION + WHY WE STAY
Fleeing a dangerous situation is not the only way to safely survive it. Or, why we shouldn't ask: "why didn't you just leave?"
When people ask "why didn't you leave sooner?" or "why did you stay?" they often want to make sense of an awful situation.
But these questions are not that supportive. And when we learn about the nervous system, we discover:
LEAVING IS NOT ALWAYS THE SAFEST OPTION and I wish more people understood that.
Our nervous system is always reaching for our safety and survival. By any means necessary. Sometimes that’s fleeing. Sometimes it’s fighting. Sometimes it’s collapsing.
However you survived is brilliant, and I am sorry if you have experienced people questioning your survival.
Questions like: why didn’t you just leave? if it was that bad, why did you stay so long? . . .
. . . they’re just not helpful.
I get why people ask them; often want to find the rhyme or reason in an awful and hard-to-digest or fathom experience.
But they’re not the most supportive questions.
And. The more we know about the nervous system, the more we’ll realize that there are better questions to ask. And that, what’s more, there might be other WORDS we can offer. Not questions, just validation and support.
Because when we learn more about how our physiology is always taking the actions that help us to survive, is always doing its absolute best to get us through a challenging situation (sometimes we can get out, sometimes we find ways to stay until it ends because we can’t flee yet) . . . we know that some of the choices are a bit choiceless, and not a reflection of someone’s lack of willpower (ew, not a great take, right?), but relative to circumstance.
Seeing you in your survival, whatever it looked or looks like.
Jess
Resource, resilience and collective trauma
Nervous system regulation happens when we’re resourced. THIS is why healing is collective and trauma is systemic. THIS is why as we heal I hope we heal these systems that leave so many underresourced.
Resourcing is about what is outside of us, too.
It’s about the systems we live in.
It’s about the people in our lives.
It’s about .. what or who or where can we turn to when shit is hard?
It’s about .. are the helpers actually helping or retraumatizing or further oppressing us?
Resourcing can be this beautiful piece of nervous system regulation where we hold our own hearts or sway back and forth or tune into our breath and feel more grounded and present.
Yes. And.
Resourcing can also be about OUR RESOURCES.
Affluence. Proximity. Access. Privilege. Support. And/or lack thereof.
It can also be about the protective factors that help us to be resilient through traumatic experiences.
In this world, not everyone is resourced equally.
And not all resources come from the inside (although yes, those practices are powerful, too, and if they feel supportive please keep doing them!).
I hope that as we heal, as we hold our own hearts and nourish our own nervous systems, we can also hold that our systems need healing, too.
More to come on nervous system nourishment that doesn’t erase trauma (and healing) as a systemic and collective phenomenon soon.
XO Jess
Image description: an open window into a lush dark green forest and a tweet that reads: Nervous system regulation happens when we’re resourced. THIS is why healing is collective and trauma is systemic. THIS is why as we heal I hope we heal these systems that leave so many underresourced.