Abstract
Background
According to the American School Counselor Association, school counselors are tasked with supporting students’ holistic growth, including career development. Despite this professional responsibility, there is a limited body of career development interventions specifically designed for school counselors to implement. Furthermore, outcome-based research examining the effectiveness of school counseling interventions remains an ongoing need within the profession.
Objectives
The purpose of this study was to examine the implementation and outcomes of a career-focused expressive arts small-group intervention facilitated by school counseling graduate students.
Research Question
What common themes emerge from students’ unique stories when analyzing their artwork and written reflections during an expressive arts intervention?
Methods
Using a qualitative narrative inquiry approach, we collected data from secondary students (N = 33) who participated in a structured, small-group intervention led by school counseling graduate students (N = 8). Data sources included expressive arts artifacts and student reflections created during the intervention. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify common themes.
Results and Conclusions
Four primary themes emerged: (a) personal values, (b) self-concept, (c) relationships and belonging, and (d) interests and creative expression. Findings suggest that expressive-arts-based career interventions may support identity development and meaning-making processes central to adolescent career exploration. The article discusses implications for school counseling practice and future outcome-based research.
Across the United States, disparities in college and career readiness continue to reflect longstanding inequities in access to education and school counseling. National averages indicate a slightly declining high school graduation rate, from 88% in 2018 (Kerr & Shin, 2020) to 87% in 2023 (Irwin et al., 2023) and the outcomes for low-income students remain disproportionately poor. Of these high school graduates, 15% of students from low-income households earn bachelor’s degrees compared to 60% of students from higher income households (Cahalan et al., 2021). Compounding these academic disparities is the reality that nearly 20% of students graduate high school without a clear postsecondary plan (Hanson, 2021). For many low-income youth, the transition from high school to postsecondary education or the workforce is hindered not by lack of potential, but by lack of access to individualized support, career development, and exploration services within schools (Jimenez, 2020).
Career Development in Schools
Career development is an integrated part of the academic experience of K–12 students. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) identifies three interdependent domains of student support: academic, social/emotional, and college and career (American School Counselor, 2019). Focused on these areas, school counselors help all students develop the mindsets and skills needed to connect school to the world of work, plan for postsecondary transitions, and succeed across the lifespan, recognizing that growth in all three areas is essential for long-term success (American School Counselor, 2019). Within K–12 schools, the process of career development extends through students’ academic experience. School counselors are tasked with identifying developmentally appropriate interventions to meet students’ career exploration needs. Elementary career counseling serves as a vital foundation for fostering students’ understanding of the world of work and preparing them for future educational and professional pathways. The central goal at the elementary level is to promote career awareness through activities that expose students to diverse occupations and to the postsecondary education required to pursue them (Ellott et al., 2025). As students move into secondary grade levels, career counseling shifts in middle school to inspire and prepare students for future careers by connecting academic preparation with career options (Sanders et al., 2017). Beyond middle school, the work primarily focuses on transitions, such as helping students successfully integrate into high school and eventually from high school to work or college (Li et al., 2017).
School counselors should consider not only the developmental needs of students but also the external factors that influence their experience. One such factor that impacts college and career readiness is household and community income. An aspect of this disparity can be seen through student-to-school-counselor ratios. Nationally, the average ratio is 376:1, which is substantially higher than the ASCA recommended ratio of 250:1, with higher ratios concentrated in low-income communities (ASCA, 2025). Outcome research indicates that higher ratios are associated with lower student achievement and graduation rates (ASCA, 2021). Students from low-income homes are also less likely to meet with their school counselors about career exploration and preparation than their peers from higher income households (ASCA, 2021). Each of these statistics contributes to the gap between college and career readiness for students from low-income households and may further contribute to the disparities present within these communities. Intentional integration of career development, particularly within low-income communities, is a fundamental part of supporting students.
Career Development Interventions in School Counseling
Considering the obstacle of high student-to-school-counselor ratios, it is imperative that school counseling career interventions are feasible and impactful in K–12 schools. Traditional interventions, like comprehensive school counseling programs, career courses, individual counseling, and even computer-assisted tools, have long served as foundational elements of career readiness in school counseling (Sharapova et al., 2023). Researchers highlight that traditional career interventions aid in improving career-related knowledge, decision-making skills, and career adaptability (Sharapova et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2024).
Evidence has also shown that repeated exposure to structured career education helps students not only build these skills but also succeed more broadly in school (Choi et al., 2015). Despite the strengths, traditional models raise consistent concerns. Researchers point out an overreliance on self-report data and a lack of emphasis on 21st-century skills students need to thrive, such as decidedness, sense of control over career future, persistence, autonomy, and confidence (Hughes & Karp, 2004; Ozdemir & Ayaz, 2020). Another important construct to consider when helping students prepare for life beyond graduation is providing opportunities for them to explore and integrate their own identities and self-concept.
Child and Adolescent Career Construction Interview
Although traditional models remain widely used, narrative approaches to career development are gaining traction for the way they center lived experience and personal connection. One such approach is the Child and Adolescent Career Construction Interview (CACCI; Lindo & Ceballos, 2017). The CACCI intervention operationalizes culturally responsive career exploration practices as a structured, replicable intervention. This intervention aligns with Zyromski and Dimmitt’s (2022) call to prioritize intervention research that includes student outcome evaluation to examine meaningful changes in student development while promoting student strengths versus deficit-based outcomes. The CACCI is a group-based intervention that focuses on lived experience, identity development, and meaning making, offering a developmentally responsive approach to career conversations (Lindo et al., 2022, 2023).
Research on the CACCI intervention suggests that it helps students build resilience, strengthen their self-concept, and explore identity and future possibilities within a developmentally appropriate structure (Lindo et al., 2023). Narrative approaches such as the CACCI and Rehfuss and Sickinger’s (2015) model demonstrate promise in helping students develop greater insight and self-understanding, even for students who show lower initial interest in career planning. The CACCI also meets the needs identified by researchers and school counselors for practical career interventions that are consistent, structured, and student centered (Cook & Maree, 2016). Reducing barriers for school counselors are low-cost access to the CACCI intervention manual and training videos that allow school counselors to earn continuing education credits. School counselors can also contact the authors of the CACCI to obtain permission and access to the latest version of the protocol.
Although the evidence base for career development is still growing, the themes are consistent: When students are invited into meaningful, reflective career development experiences, especially ones that honor their story and identity, the results may extend far beyond choosing a career path as they gain confidence, self-awareness, and a stronger sense of purpose (Lindo & Ceballos, 2020; Lindo et al., 2023; Waalkes et al., 2019). As school counselors consider ways to better support career readiness, particularly for students who may feel disconnected from traditional models, these narrative and developmentally responsive approaches offer a compelling option for supporting students. Moreover, small-group interventions have been found to have higher rates of efficacy compared to classroom lessons and individual sessions.
Purpose of the Study
Despite clear evidence supporting the role of career guidance in shaping long-term outcomes, many school counselors, already stretched by competing demands and large caseloads, report limited time for career counseling (Sanders et al., 2017). Further, school counselor training programs may not adequately prepare and emphasize the importance of implementing culturally and developmentally responsive career counseling frameworks in comprehensive school counseling programs (Morgan et al., 2014). This, combined with high student-to-school-counselor ratios and increasing mental health needs, leaves many school counselors with limited time and capacity to engage in meaningful career exploration with students (You Science, 2025). As a result, career development is often deprioritized in schools serving students who arguably need it most. Further, the lack of evidence-based intervention research in school counseling literature persists (Griffith et al., 2019). More important, evidence-based school counseling has evolved to move away from traditional methods of assessment that may inadvertently reinforce inequities in schools (Dimmitt et al., 2025).
Keeping all of this in mind, the first and second authors identified the CACCI small-group intervention as the best fit for their graduate interns in supporting the career development needs of their K–12 students. The purpose of this intervention study was to use a narrative inquiry framework (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) to explore student outcomes through themes that emerged from students’ stories expressed through artwork and written reflections as they participated in the CACCI group. Accordingly, this study sought to answer the following research question: What common themes emerged from students’ unique stories when analyzing their artwork and written reflections during an expressive arts intervention?
Methodology
The lead researcher obtained institutional review board approval prior to beginning recruitment for this study. School counseling graduate students were informed about the intervention study and asked to participate during their career counseling and internship courses. A total of eight school counseling graduate students agreed to participate in the research study and received training on the CACCI group intervention. The participating school counseling graduate students then disseminated recruitment information at the schools in which they were completing their internship experience. Parents were provided with contact information for the lead researcher. The lead researcher spoke with parents to explain the research study and obtain consent. The school counseling interns formed the groups and received assent from the students to engage in the study. Throughout the intervention, the interns completed a fidelity checklist after each group and participated in weekly supervision sessions with the lead researcher to ensure intervention compliance.
Participants
A total of eight school counseling master’s students who were in their final internship semester and had completed all coursework to earn a master’s in school counseling engaged in the project. The school counseling interns identified a lack of resources in meeting their K–12 students’ career development needs, which extended beyond the traditional inclusion of career days and computerized interest inventories and aptitude tests. To meet the expressed need, the interns used convenience sampling to recruit 33 students from their Title I K–12 schools, consisting of three middle schools and five high schools in Texas. Three of the schools were in rural communities and four in larger suburban school districts; one small Catholic school was near the southern border. To be included in the study, the participants met the following criteria: (a) enrolled as a student in a school with a participating school counselor intern, (b) spoke English, and (c) volunteered to participate in the group intervention focused on career development. The researchers obtained informed consent from all parents/guardians of the students.
The eight groups ranged in size from three to five students (M = 4.13). The participants were between the ages of 9 and 17 (M = 12); 22 self-identified as female, seven self-identified as male, and four did not report their gender. Eighteen participants (54.5%) reported their race/ethnicity: White (n = 9), Hispanic (n = 4), Asian (n = 3), Black (n = 1), and biracial (n = 1). To protect the students’ identity, the research team and school counselor interns assigned each student a pseudonym for all data collection.
Research Team
The first author is an assistant professor of counseling at a private suburban university in the southern United States and has more than 18 years of working in public school settings, including 7 years as a school counselor. The second author is an associate professor of counseling at the collaborating university and worked for several years as a counselor in a school setting before transitioning to higher education. The third author is a doctoral student in counseling and counselor education and worked 11 years as a school counselor. The fourth author is a professor of counseling at a large, suburban public university in the southern United States, has experience in career counseling and collaborating with schools, and is the developer of the CACCI. The remaining authors were the data analysis team and included two coders and an external auditor, all of whom were PhD counseling education graduate students at the fourth author’s institution. The three data analysis team members all have experience in career counseling, school-based interventions, and qualitative research methods.
CACCI Intervention
Prior to the start of the intervention, all eight school counseling graduate students received a detailed script and intervention manual during their training session and were given time to ask questions regarding the intervention. The intervention included five weekly 45-minute group sessions and one 30-minute individual meeting at the conclusion of the group experience. During the weekly sessions, participants were given a range of art-based materials such as paints, pastels, colored pencils, crayons, markers, collage paper, and watercolor paints to respond to each prompt that encouraged self-reflection.
Example of CACCI Weekly Activities.
Note. This abbreviated table illustrates main concepts and activities of the CACCI. For more information, please see Lindo and Ceballos (2017).
Data Collection
Given that the CACCI intervention involved group discussion, written responses to session prompts, and creative art media, data collection occurred simultaneously with the intervention. That is, artifacts used to facilitate the intervention also served as data sources. Students completed the weekly intervention prompts, shared their reflections in group sessions, maintained a weekly journal, and created an expressive art component during their time participating in the small group. The current study incorporated three data sources: (a) written responses to the group session prompts, (b) expressive art media, and (c) CACCI summary sheets.
Data Analysis
This research study utilized a narrative inquiry framework (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) to capture the detailed stories of how students create and make meaning of their developing career identities through expressive art and weekly reflective journal prompts. The data sources included photos of the students’ expressive art creations, their written reflections, and the CACCI intervention summary sheet produced from their responses during the group intervention. Together, these sources of data tell a story and provide insight into how students construct their career stories, evolving identities, sense of self, and values.
The data analysis team included two coders and an external auditor. Analysis followed Clandinin & Connelly’s (2000) framework which attended to temporality (students’ description of lived experiences over time), sociality (how their personal and relational contexts shaped their stories), and place (the setting or environments where the experiences occurred). The coding process used inductive coding procedures informed by Braun and Clarke’s (2006) reflexive thematic analysis to identify recurring storylines, pivotal moments in their lives, and themes in the narratives of the students’ journal and artwork. Through an interpretive lens, the students’ voice and experiences were used as data to aid in the understanding of their meaning making of career identity development in a broader context (Clandinin et al., 2007).
For the visual creative artifacts, the coders conducted a practice coding session involving five randomly selected children’s drawings that were not part of the participant data set to establish intercoder agreement. This allowed the coders to assess and discuss discrepant viewpoints and ensure a consistent approach to data analysis. The coders then engaged in visual data analysis of the participants’ expressive art media. The coding and discussion process continued until achieving a mean agreement approaching or exceeding 90% (Miles et al., 2014). The themes of the written data were checked against corresponding artwork to confirm the accuracy and consistency of the themes in the qualitative data sets and achieve triangulation (Padgett, 1998).
Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness refers to the quality, strength, or rigor of a specific study (Patton, 2002). In the present study, the research team established trustworthiness through strategies addressing credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Credibility was addressed through member checking and by triangulation between the two coders and an external auditor (Patton, 2002). To achieve analyst triangulation, the coders independently engaged in coding, followed by consensus meetings to resolve discrepancies. The external auditor reviewed the coding process and thematic development. To increase dependability of findings, an audit trail was used to capture analytic decisions such as how stories were assembled during the data analysis and to ensure consistency in coding (Finlay & Ballinger, 2006). This process also involved a detailed record of each stage of the study: intervention, data collection, and data analysis (Hays & Singh, 2012). Further, confirmability was strengthened through peer debriefing, which included formal and informal discussions among the various members of the research team.
Results
Visual and Written Data Cross-Analysis Findings.
Findings
Four themes with related subthemes emerged from the data analysis process. The first theme of personal values contained the following subthemes: faith and spiritual resilience, overcoming challenges, and optimism and hope. The second overarching theme was interests and creative expression, which had three subthemes: sports and activities, art and creativity, and pop culture and social media. Relationships and belonging were the third overarching theme, with subthemes of family and of social connection and teamwork. The final theme was self-concept, which included three subthemes: self-affirmation and growth, role models, and morals and personal characteristics.
Personal Values
The first theme, personal values, was identified through students expressing values-based concepts. Leading to the first subtheme of faith and spiritual resilience, several students noted the importance of their faith. One student wrote: “My best advice to myself is to do everything in love (1 Cor. 16:14). If God is everything you have, you have everything you need.” Another student wrote in their journal: “I liked it because it shows you should never give up on God and always have hope.”
The second identified subtheme was overcoming challenges. A student’s journal response captured this by stating: “You can do anything you set your mind to. I keep that in my head and go through my obstacles.” Other participants described their perspectives as: “Mistakes help you grow. I like it because you’re not going to do it right the first time, and when I mess up, I know it’s going to help me grow” and “Staying calm and finding a solution is the best way to go!”
The final subtheme identified was optimism and hope; one student shared, “[favorite character] has to find ways to make people laugh even when he is at a really low place because of bullies. I like how he always tries to find the good in bad situations.” Another identified their favorite quote as: “‘If you don’t believe you can be great, you will never actually be great.’ – Christian Ronaldo.”
Interests and Creative Expression
The next overarching theme captured students’ interests and creative expressions. The first subtheme identified was sports and activities. Students shared: “My favorite sport is baseball. … You can mess up 9 out of 10 times and still be considered great. I also like how fun the game is to play” and “I like Karate Kid. … It is about a kid getting bullied, but he learns karate and wins a tournament against his bully.”
A second subtheme was art and creativity. Students stated: “[I liked] making art without rules or a certain theme/topic” and “Artist are simple people with a complex mind.” Students also described enjoying the CACCI intervention; one wrote that they “loved how creative I could be, and it was fun trying to express what I liked about the movie with art. I wish we had more time for making our artwork.”
Pop culture and social media was the final prominent subtheme. Students noted how central social media is for them, such as in the statement: “Instagram is a very common site. I think if used correctly, it is great for sharing positivity and can also help promote something.” Another student wrote: “Carrie Underwood is a very strong and a great person to look up to.”
Relationships and Belonging
The third theme focused on the importance of relationships and belonging. Within this, students identified family as a significant subtheme and contributor to their sense of belonging. Students described the importance of “family, traditions, spending quality time with people I care about,” and noted the significance of a “supportive family, spending time with my dad when I was small. Watching movies with friends.”
Another subtheme that emerged throughout students’ responses was social connection and teamwork, especially as it related to the CACCI group experience. One participant stated that through this experience, they “learned that everyone kind [of] relates in a way.” One wrote that what they “liked the most about group was seeing how we relate to others,” and “[I learned] that even if you don’t know them, always be respectful and maybe you’ll be friends.” Some of the CACCI reflection sheets for students connected these sentiments with future work, through statements such as: “I will be happy when working with others, able to be an influence on those around me”; “I like places that have a cooperative atmosphere, move at a faster pace, value accuracy, have a supportive environment”; and “I like doing things that are active and engaging, that require cooperation and teamwork.”
Self-Concept
In the final overarching theme, self-concept, the identified subthemes were self-affirmation and growth, role models, and morals and personal characteristics. Self-affirmation and growth emerged through student responses such as: “The features you have are what your ancestors loved about each other” and “[I believe I] can always figure something out.” One participant stated: “Don’t ever doubt yourself or waste a second of your life. It’s too short and you’re too special.” Another student referenced their favorite quote as, “If you’re happy doing what you are doing, then nobody can tell you you’re not successful.”
The next subtheme focused on role models as a significant contributor to students’ self-concept or ideal self. One student noted: “I really like Tom’s Cruise’s determination and excitement for the movie. He really wants the fans to enjoy the movie as much as he did while filming it.” Another asserted that their heroes “aren’t scared to show who they are and how they feel.”
The final subtheme was morals and personal characteristics. One student expressed that they strive to “treat other[s] the way you want to be treated to be kind. Something that happens in the dark becomes the light never should livye [lie].” Another student stated that they “want to be like someone who can bring comfort to others, that is a positive influence, that stays true to themselves and their roots even after success, that can express their emotions in a creative and relatable way.” Finally, a participant noted that they learned “that we really set our morals and rules depending on what we tell ourselves.”
Discussion and Implications for School Counselors
The findings of this study provide valuable insights into how youth perceived and constructed meaning around their future selves through participation in the CACCI group intervention. Through analyses of students’ visual and written artifacts, their personal values, interests and creative expression, relationships and belonging, and self-concept emerged as salient themes. Exploration of these themes identifies implications for school counselors seeking to implement and engage in career development interventions with their students.
The identification of personal values as a theme highlights the essential role that culture, resilience, and faith play in students’ emerging personal and career development. For many participants, career exploration was not limited to job titles or career aspirations; rather, it was understood through the lens of emerging values and personal reflection. Students also highlighted the importance of creating a strong foundation for themselves, overcoming challenges, and moving forward with intention and hope. These findings suggest that career development interventions with adolescents should be conceptualized as an ongoing process of exploration, rather than as a decision-making task based on career assessments and aptitude tests. Results of this study align with prior research urging school counselors to integrate values exploration into career interventions, creating opportunities for students to identify what matters most to them and how these values may shape their future goals (Lindo et al., 2023; Waalkes et al., 2019).
The theme of interests and creative exploration emphasizes the importance of not overlooking the role of curiosity and fun in early career exploration. Students expressed excitement toward activities or topics of interest, suggesting that tapping into students’ intrinsic motivation and interest may play a significant role in how they imagine their future selves. Through these expressions, students identified both hardships and lessons learned, aligning with their previously shared belief that hard work is often an important aspect of achieving what is important to them. Ranging from sports to social media, these observations align with existing literature’s stance that fostering the development of students’ interests supports overall academic and career development (Harackiewicz et al., 2016). By connecting students’ interests with potential career paths, school counselors can build excitement that enhances motivation for career exploration.
Students’ creativity was captured by CACCI’s focus on the integration of expressive arts into the weekly groups. This theme highlights the ways students use their own unique modes of expression to communicate their interests and aspects of their identities, serving as a reminder for school counselors to provide flexible, creative vehicles for self-expression during the career exploration process. Although these creative modalities may be particularly important for younger students, integration of creative approaches should not be overlooked for older students. Afriyati et al. (2023) found that integration of expressive arts into career counseling can have a profound impact across the lifespan.
The third theme that emerged was relationships and belonging. This theme revealed how interpersonal connections influence students’ developing sense of self and future direction. Many participants framed their goals and values through the lens of connection to family, peers, or community, and described how feeling supported or understood strengthened their growing sense of self-worth. Students also communicated a strong sense of belonging as a result of engaging with their small group during the CACCI intervention. They shared instances of laughter, reflection, and bonding, suggesting that the opportunity for expression and exploration with their peers was a valuable outcome experienced beyond the weekly prompts. This indicates that relationships are integral to identity and career construction, reinforcing the school counselor’s role in fostering environments of safety, belonging, and positive regard. Prior research with marginalized youth has emphasized the importance of connectedness through caring relationships, because belonging and competence are at the core of positive identity development and meaning making (Noble-Carr et al., 2014).
Last, the theme of self-concept captured students’ understanding of their identities and characteristics through a developmental lens. Students reflected on their perceptions of how they see their current and future selves, often engaging in self-affirmation. Students also reflected on their role models—individuals who exemplified characteristics they strived to achieve. They highlighted the strengths they admired and often tied those into aspects of their own self-concept. Students’ morals were also often linked to their view of themselves and served as a foundation for how they engaged with others. Identity exploration and development of self-concept is a key component of career exploration (Branje, 2022; Emmanuel et al., 2014). Developmentally appropriate interventions such as the CACCI can provide students with an opportunity to intentionally engage in this self-concept exploration (Lindo & Ceballos, 2020).
School counselors should create opportunities for students to identify their strengths, values, and aspirations, creating a foundation on which to build their career development. The CACCI group format provides school counselors with an intervention that intentionally crosses the ASCA domains of career and social/emotional development (ASCA, 2021), supporting students’ future planning while simultaneously fostering a sense of belonging and exploration of current identity.
Research has demonstrated that students’ sense of school belonging is associated with positive academic, psychosocial, and identity outcomes, with relational factors such as peer connection and perceived support serving as key contributors (Allen et al., 2018). These findings suggest that career development groups may also function as powerful belonging interventions during adolescence, a developmental period in which identity exploration and peer relationships are particularly salient.
The accessibility of the CACCI is twofold: it is a low cost, easily implemented resource for school counselors with minimal materials needed for expressive arts, and it is accessible for students through flexible visual and creative modalities. These modalities further support inclusivity by offering multiple avenues for expression, increasing access for students with diverse learning needs, language backgrounds, or communication styles.
Limitations and Recommendations for Future Research
Conducting intervention research within school settings presents several challenges, including obtaining parental consent, participant attrition, and student absences, all of which can affect the completeness and representativeness of the data. Although we were able to conduct the CACCI intervention across multiple schools, with students from various demographic backgrounds, and obtain an appropriate sample size for qualitative research, a quantitative addition to the study examining student success outcomes (e.g., attendance, academic achievement, mental health factors) could increase the rigor. During the next iteration of this intervention, we plan to include an exit interview for all participants to capture their experiences of the group process.
Example of Student Expressions Aligned With Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences.
Note. This abbreviated table illustrates how concepts expressed in this study align with Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences (1993), suggesting promising directions for integrating multiple intelligence theory into future Child and Adolescent Career Construction research and interventions.
Conclusion
This study highlights how the CACCI can serve as a practical and meaningful tool for school counselors to promote students’ career identity development. By engaging in reflective discussion and creative expression, students in this study explored their personal values, relationships, interests, and sense of self, connecting these insights to their future goals. The findings highlight the importance of integrating narrative and expressive approaches within school counseling programs to make career exploration more student centered and relevant. Because the CACCI is both low cost and adaptable, it serves as a feasible option for school counselors working in diverse and high-need settings. Ongoing research and training can further strengthen its application, supporting school counselors in fostering equitable, developmentally responsive career readiness for all students.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
