My understanding is that a physical therapist is more for when you have injured yourself, and you need help! I went to one for my knees...they are very knowledgable, and good at looking for problems, but I don't know that they would have a lot of knowledge on the other side of things.
I agree with LoneStar, Veena is a personal trainer with tonnes of experience, and she's got the lessons up here for those of us who want to learn at home, and don't want to hurt ourselves! The strength training parts, too, are very useful. Veena, and several other pole dancers of competition level, and teachers, are all here, and you can ask them anything!
My reccommendations? Take it slow. Listen to your body, because if you're pushing too hard, it will tell you! If you hurt, maybe don't pole that day...do something softer, more relaxing, or maybe nothing at all. If you don't feel like a certain grip is stable enough, don't hang from it! Practice on the ground, and see if you can work out how the grip can be made more stable.
Other things that might help... a mirror, so you can watch yourself, or even better, a video camera. I DON'T like watching myself dance, but the video camera is something I'm forcing myself to do, because I know I'll improve eventually! Perhaps a crash mat, too, so you can work on moves with a little more safety. And, you can always check out pole dancing classes in your area (I'm sure Google would come up with a few!), and take some of those. I know that there are a lot of classes out these days that go right from beginner to advanced, from the floor to all aerial, and with a teacher present, perhaps you could also pepper them with questions about how to make up routines, how to train so you can improve, and what to do about stretching and strength if you hit a plateu.
Best of luck! Sounds like you have a good, realistic goal :)
