Natascha Polomski

Abstract

Complementary and integrative health practitioners and facilitators bring knowledge, training, experience, observation, and presence into their work. These capacities are valuable, yet they also raise an important question: How does a facilitator remain aware of the difference between what they observe, what they interpret, and what they actually know about another person’s experience?
This practice informed presentation turns awareness toward the facilitator. It explores how a facilitator’s own physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioural, relational and family, cultural and contextual, and spiritual dimensions may influence what is noticed, how information is interpreted, and how the facilitator responds within an interaction. These seven dimensions are presented as prompts for reflective inquiry rather than isolated categories or a diagnostic framework.
The presentation applies Notice, Recognize, Regulate, and Re-align as a practice informed reflective structure for facilitator awareness. Notice invites awareness of what is occurring within the interaction and within the facilitator. Recognize encourages differentiation between observation and interpretation while considering assumptions, previous experiences, professional training, expectations, and context. Regulate asks the facilitator to consider how to respond without automatically positioning personal interpretation as another person’s answer. Re-align invites continued reflection and adjustment in response to new information, feedback, boundaries, and the needs of the interaction.
Through a brief experiential activity, practical examples, and guided reflection, participants will explore how quickly observation can become interpretation and consider how their own awareness influences facilitation. Reflective practice is presented as an ongoing responsibility before, during, and after an interaction.
Rather than diminishing professional knowledge or expertise, this perspective asks facilitators to hold knowledge alongside curiosity, uncertainty, appropriate boundaries, and respect for participant agency. The practitioner is not the answer does not mean the practitioner is unimportant. Instead, it reframes skilled facilitation as creating conditions in which awareness and exploration can occur without the facilitator assuming authority over the meaning of another person’s inner experience.

Biography

Natascha Polomski, MSc CIH (BioEnergetic Wellness), is a Self Trust and Awareness Guide, BioEnergetic Wellness professional, and doctoral researcher whose work is informed by both lived experience and professional practice. Following her own healing journey during her Master's studies, she began exploring how prolonged stress influences the relationship individuals have with themselves. Her current work focuses on awareness, communication with self, and the gradual rebuilding of self-trust through BioEnergetic Wellness and other awareness-based approaches. She is committed to advancing interdisciplinary dialogue and research that bridges practice, education, and integrative health.