Sandtray as a Means of Discernment: A Case Report on the Use of the Sandtray as a Career Counseling Intervention

The role of a school counselor is unique in that it incorporates multiple counseling domains in which other counselors may specialize. Especially for secondary school counselors, their occupation tasks them with career, social-emotional, academic, and often family and relational counseling. For that matter, this may include drug counseling, pregnancy counseling, and prevention. Over time, the emphasis on mental health counseling has waxed and waned depending on current trends; however, the focus on career counseling has existed since the birth of the counseling movement. The authors favor a holistic approach to school-based career counseling that incorporates exploring intersecting aspects of self-identity as significant to career discernment. This case report details the use of sandtray counseling as a means of further defining the career aspirations and expectations of two twelfth-grade female students completing their high school coursework while discerning their post-graduation plans. The results of the sandtray exercise suggest that adolescents may sometimes be unaware of the differences between their own aspirations and the societal/familial expectations placed upon them. The school counselor’s office offers a safe space to untangle the factors that influence students’ college and career readiness.