Polly Amies, BACP

Polly Amies is a counsellor practising in the United Kingdom with a BACP membership. She has worked in private practice and across other settings, supporting adults, young people and their families for over 30 years. She aims to create a warm, caring environment and meets people where they are when they first reach out.

Polly describes herself as a Humanistic counsellor and brings a person-centred style to sessions. She listens for strengths in each story and helps people build on those strengths to move through stress, anxiety, depression and grief. Her approach is adaptable and practical, focusing on small steps clients can take between meetings.

Her work has included support for neurodiversity, relationship concerns, trauma and abuse, and a wide range of life transitions. She also offers help with issues such as sleep and eating concerns, parenting strain, anger, self-esteem and coping with change. Midlife crisis and career crossroads are among the topics she addresses in conversation and planning.

Polly uses a blend of recognised approaches, including client-centred ways of working, cognitive behavioural ideas and mindfulness practices. She draws on solution-focused techniques and motivational interviewing where useful to set goals and notice progress. Sessions are shaped to the person rather than a fixed model.

Reaching out for help is often the hardest step. Polly aims to be straightforward and encouraging in early contacts. She welcomes people who are ready to talk through challenges and discover practical ways forward.

How counselling approaches guide online work

Client-centred therapy puts the person's experience at the centre of the work. The counsellor listens closely, reflects what they hear, and helps the person make sense of decisions and feelings. This approach can help with low mood, relationship worries and the uncertainty of life changes.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) focuses on noticing patterns of thinking and behaviour that keep problems going. It offers simple activities and experiments to try between sessions to reduce anxiety, improve sleep and tackle low mood. Mindfulness therapy teaches short, practical attention exercises to reduce rumination and increase calm in daily life.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. Polly will talk with each person about their goals, needs and preferences and draw on the methods above as a collaborative plan. The aim is to choose strategies the person can use outside sessions as well as during them.

Session formats are not specified in the supplied profile, so please confirm current options before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy around work, caregiving and travel, and it can reduce time spent travelling to appointments. Some approaches lend themselves to short check-ins, worksheets or mindfulness practices that fit into a busy week, and these practical benefits can be discussed when arranging sessions.