Polly Crabtree

Polly Crabtree is a psychotherapeutic counsellor (NCPS registered) with over 2,000 hours of clinical experience gained through private practice and work in community settings. Her work is rooted in helping adults understand the patterns and beliefs they carry from childhood, and how these shape their lives today, both in relationships and in how they feel about themselves. She specialises in supporting people to know themselves more fully, creating healthier relationships, stronger boundaries, and a steadier sense of self-worth that can withstand the challenges of everyday life.

Polly’s approach is both compassionate and challenging, creating a space where clients feel safe to explore any uncomfortable truths they may have been avoiding. She works with those who feel stuck in cycles of overwhelm, people-pleasing or self-criticism, helping them to spot the invisible rules they’ve been living by and decide whether to keep them or rewrite them. Drawing on psychodynamic theory, transactional analysis, and parts work, Polly supports clients to map their emotional and behavioural responses so they can make more intentional choices in their relationships and daily lives. Her sessions are collaborative and practical, blending insight with strategies that actually work in the chaos of everyday life. This means therapy is not just a reflective conversation, but a process that actively changes how clients respond to themselves, others, and the situations they find most difficult.

Before becoming a therapist, Polly spent 20 years working in HR for large blue-chip organisations. During this time, she also cared for her young family and completed her clinical training. She understands how easily self-care can be deprioritised in the face of more urgent demands, and the toll this can take over time on both mental and physical health. This experience informs her work with clients facing workplace stress, career transitions, and the long-term impact of unresolved family dynamics. Polly has a particular interest in helping people recognise the habits and roles they’ve taken on to cope, often at the expense of their own needs, and supporting them to build a way of living that feels sustainable, balanced, and true to who they are, in both their personal and professional lives.