Natalie Austin Final Treatment Philosophies Presentation Synergy Painting

The name of this painting is Synergy because it represents a holistic approach to

treatment, meaning the philosophies we have learned about this semester are all working
together in a symbiotic relationship to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of
their separate effects. In the centre of this painting is a child, I have tried to make the child
gender neutral because my feelings towards the treatment philosophies we have learned
about in this course have nothing to do with whether someone is, or presents as male or
female. The child is standing in the yoga pose called tree pose. The child is in this pose to
show that they are grounded, and standing on their own feet because of the holistic
approach to treatment that is surrounding and supporting them. The bluish purple area
represents the psychodynamic approaches we have learned about such as Freud and Jung.
This approach is all about analyzing childhood events, and making your unconscious
conscious. The colors are deep and moody to represent the unconscious in our minds, and
also to show that calling this information forward can be a confusing and stormy. The cogs
and gear pieces are a symbol of the unconscious, as they to me represent our deepest inner
workings. The green and yellow area represent cognitive and psychological approaches
such as Adlers Individual Psychology, REBT, CBT, and Marsha Linehans DBT which has
mindfulness principles.
The green vines are representative of the connection between the synapses in our
brains, and how the thoughts we have travel along them influencing the decisions we make,
and how we are feeling. The spiral at the centre of the vines show that our thoughts start
off as a tiny seed then spiral and grow into other thoughts. This can be both beneficial and
a hindrance depending on how healthy a persons individual cognitive process are. Which
in turn is why cognitive approaches like the ones we have learned about in this course can
have a strong positive impact. The vines are also representative of organic growth and show
that with healthy cognitive restructuring we can blossom and live rich lives filled with
constant growth.
The red and yellow flames at the bottom are representative of behavioural
approaches such as skinner and his behavioural counselling, harm reduction, ABA,
Pavlovian conditioning, and so on. The flames may represent angry, fiery, and passionate
behaviour which we will see a lot in the field, but they can also be indicative of other intense
behaviours that can be all consuming for both the child and the person working with them.
The buttons on the flames represent the mask most people put on every day, this is the way
they want to want to dress, and the way they talk and behave. Then they button it all
together, and head out the door to face the day. The buttons can also symbolize undoing
that mask, taking it off and being ready to show the world who we are deep inside. Our
true selves. The flames and there colors can be also be a symbol of burnout which as you all
know is very common without proper self-care. This is why I feel a holistic approach is so
important, and why I decided to paint something that represented that concept. I feel that
all of the philosophies we have learned about are highly insightful, but that they should
never stand alone. For example, if you only focus on behaviour then you are missing out on

the understanding the root cause of that behaviour, which could be found in our present
thoughts, and in our unconscious. Also if you only look at cognitive approaches then you
may brush aside presented behaviour as non-important when it could contain a deep
message. The overall point is that I feel these approaches should all work together to fully
promote healing from every angle ,as I think this the only way to help a child fully bloom.