Charlotte Preston

Charlotte Preston Charlotte Preston is a Certified Somatic Experiencing® therapist based in Dorset, UK, working with adults, teenagers and groups.

She specialises in somatic approaches: Somatic Experiencing trauma therapy, bodywork & movement practices. I offer embodied movement group classes & one-to-one somatic therapy, online and in-person in Poole, Dorset, UK. I work with yoga, qigong, somatic movement, reiki, massage therapy and I'm currently training in Somatic Experiencing.

Just some thoughts on a sense of triumph emerging after we reconnect with emotion. A few things I've observed along the ...
06/09/2026

Just some thoughts on a sense of triumph emerging after we reconnect with emotion. A few things I've observed along the way.

Have you ever experienced anything like this? 🧡

There is such patience and persistence in showing up for yourself again and again.And yes, it may feel so tedious at tim...
25/08/2026

There is such patience and persistence in showing up for yourself again and again.

And yes, it may feel so tedious at times. 'This same old sh*t, again? I thought I'd figured this out by now?'

But what if we do revisit things over time?

Like a spiral, perhaps we're being invited to go deeper.

We might have moments where we feel we've figured it all out, neat and tidy and on top of it, and then wham... we're floored and humbled by something again.

And this is all a part of it, even though it can be hard to remember that when we're in the thick of it.

I think the work, and maybe the hardest part of the work, is learning to meet ourselves where we actually are, and allowing ourselves to be there.

And, where we are isn't where we'll stay forever, and it brings the shift to the next place.

One of the reasons I find somatic work so helpful, is that, even in the hardest of moments, when I feel like mush or everything feels like pain and disorientation, I can ground into my body rather than fighting against whats there, and something can begin to shift. It feels like something is taken out from inside, brought into more order, and placed back in. Clearer and more coherent.

If you're in a season of experiencing something hard that you thought you were over, I see you.

Maybe you're not failing, but being invited to go deeper into your experience, and something new is being integrated along the way 🌀🐚

The UK media hounded this man, completely out of proportion, in the weeks before his death.I feel such sadness and anger...
15/08/2026

The UK media hounded this man, completely out of proportion, in the weeks before his death.

I feel such sadness and anger hearing this news, and thinking about what he must have experienced over the last weeks of his life.

It makes me remember a quote from Elie Wiesel that I read years ago: “Never allow anyone to be humiliated in your presence.”

Public humiliation has become so normalised. I noticed someone I know taking joy in posting several things about Jason Arday over the last few weeks, and it really stayed with me.

Social media has amplified this beyond anything previous generations could have imagined. A person can now be ridiculed, picked apart and eviscerated in front of a global audience of millions. Papers publish the stories, commentators pile on, social media turns a person into content, and thousands of strangers who have never met that person feel entitled to join in. And then everyone moves on, but the person at the centre of it all is still there.

Let's look after each other.

RIP Jason Arday.

I recently wrote about my own experience of gradually learning to feel emotions I had suppressed over the years, particu...
14/08/2026

I recently wrote about my own experience of gradually learning to feel emotions I had suppressed over the years, particularly sadness.

I wanted to follow that post with this one, because there’s another side to the story.

Learning to feel what we haven’t previously been able to feel can be an important part of healing. But I wanted to add that more feeling isn’t always the answer. And forcing it often isn't helpful, either.

Sometimes our emotions are already very present. They arrive in huge waves, or become tangled up with fear, shame, dread or overwhelm. At other times, we can barely access them at all.

For me, the work is less about how much we can feel, and more about gradually developing the capacity to be with what we feel, without losing ourselves in it.

To experience a wave of sadness, anger or fear, while still having some connection to ourselves, another person, and the world around us.

And then to notice what happens next.

The exhale. The softening. The return of interest in something around you. A little more space inside.

Sometimes we can become so focused on what needs to be felt, processed or healed that we miss these moments altogether.

But the settling matters, too.

What do you think?

How was this post, for you?

Charlotte

One of the things that surprised me through the therapy and healing was actually connecting with *more* emotion, and mor...
04/08/2026

One of the things that surprised me through the therapy and healing was actually connecting with *more* emotion, and more of what was there beneath the surface... I didn't realise it had been there, but it had.

That included sadness, but it also included joy, awe, tenderness, connection and moments of feeling really alive.

When we've had to survive difficult experiences, it's understandable that some emotions become tucked away or disconnected from. We don't just lose access to painful feelings; sometimes we lose access to the full richness of being alive.

When we tuck them away, it's likely they are there beneath the surface. We don't have to go head on in feeling then, but gradually expand our ability to go there, in a gradual way, often frees up energy and brings more ease overall.

Over time, I discovered that sadness wasn't evidence that something was wrong with me. Often, it was just something that had been waiting for me to slow down enough and to connect with, in a way that didn't feel overwhelming.

I'd love to know...

How was this post for you?

Charlotte 🦋

What supports you if you're feeling sad? I find going on the ground and moving my body gently often helps. To go low and...
21/07/2026

What supports you if you're feeling sad?
I find going on the ground and moving my body gently often helps. To go low and slow. To reconnect with areas that feel tense, numb or achy. Sometimes this helps emotion to move through, as well.

I also found it helpful to learn about these two types of sadness, defined by Peter Levine. What are your thoughts on this? Would be great to hear from you in the comments.

Charlotte 🦋 x

I don't think I've ever had just one book on the go.There are usually four or five scattered around the house, depending...
14/07/2026

I don't think I've ever had just one book on the go.

There are usually four or five scattered around the house, depending on what I'm curious about that week. Some I'll read cover to cover in a few days. Others I'll dip into over months, sometimes years, returning to particular chapters when something resonates.

The books I come back to most tend to have things in common : they help me understand people a little more deeply - trauma, attachment, the nervous system, relationships and nature. The stories we tell ourselves, and the stories we've inherited.

The books in this carousel are all ones I'm dipping in and out of at the moment, as I'm on a week's holiday. 🌞

I'd love to know what's on your bedside table at the moment, or the one book you've read that has stayed with you long after you finished it?

I'm always looking for recommendations 🧡

Panic attacks, anxiety, chronic stress, and depression often make much more sense when we begin to understand them throu...
07/07/2026

Panic attacks, anxiety, chronic stress, and depression often make much more sense when we begin to understand them through the lens of the nervous system.

In my experience, both personally and through many years of working with people, these experiences are often connected to earlier overwhelming experiences that the body never fully had the opportunity to process.

Sometimes the impact is obvious, and sometimes much more subtle.

Sometimes people appear to be coping well on the outside while carrying an enormous amount inside.

From a somatic perspective, trauma isn't just something we remember with our minds. It also lives in the body, in our physiology, in our patterns of tension, movement, sensation and protection.

Our nervous system adapts brilliantly to help us survive difficult experiences.

The difficulty is that, years later, those same survival patterns can continue long after the danger has passed.

My work isn't about trying to get rid of anxiety or force the body to calm down.

It's about helping people build a different relationship with what they're experiencing.

Learning how to notice the body's signals and building capacity to stay with them.

Allowing survival responses that were once interrupted to gradually find completion.

Over time, many people notice they feel less overwhelmed, more connected to themselves, and have more choice in how they respond to life's challenges.

If this resonates with you, I'd love to support you through one-to-one somatic therapy, my online classes, or the resources I share here. See the link at the top of my page for ways we can work together.

Presence, attunement and acceptance over technique. What's the most helpful or supportive thing that you've experienced,...
06/07/2026

Presence, attunement and acceptance over technique.

What's the most helpful or supportive thing that you've experienced, through somatic therapy or any other kind of therapy? 💞

Follow for more on somatic therapy to support recovery from the hard things in your childhood. I've been a somatic therapist for 15 years and have lived experience of recovery from early life trauma.

See the link at the top of my page for ways we can work together, including specialist 1:1 work to support recovery from complex trauma.

Just something I've been thinking about lately / June photodump. What do you think?.🧡
28/06/2026

Just something I've been thinking about lately / June photodump.

What do you think?.🧡

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