Caroline Flack was reportedly undergoing therapy in the weeks before she passed away, it has emerged today.
The much-loved presenter was said to have gone to Los Angeles for ‘somatic therapy’ on the advice of her friend Russell Brand, according to the Mirror.
Somatic therapy helps people who suffer from stress, anxiety, grief, depression and PTSD.
Friends yesterday said Caroline was doing her best to remain upbeat ahead of her impending trial for alleged assault.
This comes as the 40-year-old’s friends have hit out at the CPS for pursuing the trial even after her boyfriend dropped charges against her.
The Crown Prosecution Service has come under intense scrutiny for persisting to prosecute the star for alleged assault, and her management company criticised what it called a ‘show trial’ even after her boyfriend said he did not support it.
A court previously heard that Caroline Flack had ‘hit her boyfriend Lewis Burton’ (pictured together above)
Caroline is pictured above leaving Highbury Magistrates’ Court in December last year
The 40-year-old presenter died hours after it was announced that she would be charged with assaulting her boyfriend Lewis Burton, 27.
According to the Mirror, after her first court appearance for assault on December 23, the former Love Island host ‘attempted to restore her mental wellbeing with somatic therapy, a holistic practice used to treat PTSD.’
She reportedly travelled to Los Angeles after Christmas to work with a somatic healer.
Speaking on ITV’s Loose Women in 2018, Ms Flack revealed how she underwent hypnotherapy to get her ‘mind in the right place’, adding: ‘I do it more when I need to focus on something.
‘I knew when I had eight days to learn the role, I went and saw him [her hypnotherapist]. He got my mind in the right place. That really works for me’.
Caroline stepped down from presenting the current winter series of the ITV2 dating show after the alleged assault.
The TV star pleaded not guilty to assaulting boyfriend Lewis Burton at a flat in north London during a court hearing in December.
In recent days it has emerged that CPS lawyers decided to prosecute Caroline even after her boyfriend Lewis Burton asked police not to proceed.
Known as an ‘evidence-led prosecution’, it would have relied not on his testimony but on material gathered by police such as bodycam footage taken at the presenter’s north London home in the early hours of December 12.
But Caroline’s management released a statement, where it branded the case a ‘show trial’.
Francis Ridley of Money Talent Management said: ‘In recent months Caroline had been under huge pressure because of an ongoing case and potential trial which has been well reported.
‘The Crown Prosecution Service pursued this when they knew not only how very vulnerable Caroline was but also that the alleged victim did not support the prosecution and had disputed the CPS version of events.
‘The CPS should look at themselves today and how they pursued a show trial that was not only without merit but not in the public interest.
‘And ultimately resulted in significant distress to Caroline.’
The TV presenter, aged 40, was found at her London home (pictured) on Saturday
The much-loved presenter (left on holiday with a friend last week), was said to have gone to Los Angeles for ‘somatic therapy’ on the advice of her friend Russell Brand (right)
Human rights barrister Charlotte Proudman, of Goldsmith Chambers, suggested the prosecution of Miss Flack was a ‘show trial’.
Dr Proudman told Today: ‘Looking at the circumstances of the case, I’m struggling to see why it was in the public interest to prosecute when it’s very clear that Caroline Flack, at the time, was struggling with her mental health.’
Leading law firm Stephensons Solicitors LLP has also blasted the Crown Prosecution Service for having a ‘one size fits all’ policy.
Sean Joyce, head of criminal justice at Stephensons, said that enforced separation can sometimes do more harm than good.
Mr Joyce said: ‘The current CPS approach is too much of a one size fits all policy, it must give greater thought to individual circumstances.
‘The enforced separation between parties, in individual cases, as highlighted here, often prevents reconciliation and can do more harm than good.
‘It’s important that the CPS takes the time to reflect on this.
‘If as a country we want a criminal justice system that provides justice to all parties, including the alleged victims and perpetrators of domestic violence, then it needs to be properly resourced.
‘At the moment, the police, prosecution and courts often don’t have the time or the money to consider properly the complex issues raised by domestic violence.
‘Perversely, this can lead to inappropriate cases proceeding to trial when a robust review at an early stage would have prevented this.’
The CPS refused to comment on the specifics of Ms Flack’s case, but explained the process by which it decides to charge people.
‘We do not decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence – that is for the jury, judge or magistrate – but we must make the key decision of whether a case should be put before a court,’ a spokesman said.