Be Like Water: Exploring Therapeutic Potential of Water in Addressing Emotional (Dys)regulation

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dc.contributor.authorSwitkowski, Zofia
dc.date.accessioned2025-06-06T23:29:40Z
dc.date.available2025-06-06T23:29:40Z
dc.date.issued2025-05
dc.description.abstractWater is symbolically and inextricably connected to the human experience; we originate from it, we are made of it, and we rely on it to stay alive. Since time immemorial, water in various forms and applications has been used as a means of healing body, mind, and spirit. In recent years, the therapeutic value of water has received renewed attention in the areas of sports medicine, holistic wellness, ecopsychology, and public health. Yet, proponents of such approaches must reckon with a torturous history of the colonial "water cure" in institutionalized psychiatry, and ongoing injustices of water insecurity and inaccessibility. Through a relational lens, this interdisciplinary investigation explores the intersection of water and emotion, positing emotional (dys)regulation as a transdiagnostic therapeutic construct and examining practical applications of water as an adjunct or integrative treatment approach. It reviews historical and current therapeutic use of water for emotional and psychological wellbeing, discusses recent findings on the emotional impacts of blue spaces, and explores water as a symbolic, relational, and sensory therapeutic medium. Social justice considerations, ethical issues, and limitations (i.e., affective injustice, water insecurity, risk and safety) are discussed, and directions for future research are considered. The final product of this capstone project offers content for a zine resource summarizing salient themes and offering practical strategies for integrating water into therapeutic practices to support emotional regulation within and beyond the counselling space.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11803/3593
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisher.institutionCity University of Seattle (CityU)
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
dc.rightsopenAccess
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/
dc.subjectwater
dc.subjectblue space
dc.subjectemotional dysregulation
dc.subjecthydrotherapy
dc.subjectnature connectedness
dc.titleBe Like Water: Exploring Therapeutic Potential of Water in Addressing Emotional (Dys)regulation
dc.typeCapstone
thesis.degree.disciplineCounselling
thesis.degree.grantorCity University of Seattle (CityU)
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Counselling
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