How to hire a behavioral therapist

How to hire a behavioral therapist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step behavioral therapist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a behavioral therapist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new behavioral therapist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a behavioral therapist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The behavioral therapist hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect behavioral therapist also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list presents behavioral therapist salaries for various positions.

   Type of Behavioral Therapist	Description	Hourly rate
   Behavioral Therapist	Substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors advise people who suffer from alcoholism, drug addiction, eating disorders, or other behavioral problems. They provide treatment and support to help the client recover from addiction or modify problem behaviors.	$12-24
   Youth Advocate	Youth advocates are individuals who responsible for maintaining the human rights of youth while assisting them in developing their skills in all areas of life, such as education, health, employment, and relationships. These advocates are required to discuss youth development and involvement with various leaders in the community... Show more	$12-19
   Family Counselor	A Family Counselor treats married couples or family members in order to help them overcome mental or emotional problems. They provide effective treatment measures to help the family members resolve their issues.	$12-29

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Autism
   • Social Work
   • Behavior Analysis
   • Patients
   • Provide ABA
   • Applied Behavior Analysis
   • Autism Spectrum Disorder
   • Family Therapy
   • BCBA
   • Data Collection
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Group Therapy
   • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
   • Developmental Disabilities

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage behavioral program for each client assign (CPI training).
   • Modele self-help and independent skills to assist autistic and developmentally delay children achieving their establish goals.
   • Assist the BCBA in assessing new clients, supervising line therapists, providing parent training, and formulating client specific programs.
   • Analyze and interpret results through graphing data collect from individual sessions.
   • Work collaboratively with BCBA's and direct line staff to ensure care plan and procedures are being implement consistently and uniformly.
   • Communicate with school administration, school teacher's and teaching assistants with helping create IEP's and behavior plans for individuals.

   More behavioral therapist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the behavioral therapist job description is a good way to get more applicants. A behavioral therapist salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a behavioral therapist in Tennessee may be lower than in New York, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level behavioral therapist. Additionally, a behavioral therapist with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average behavioral therapist salary

   $37,881yearly

   $18.21 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level behavioral therapist salary

   $27,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 22, 2026

   Average behavioral therapist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$44,529	$21
   2	Pennsylvania	$44,330	$21
   3	Indiana	$40,098	$19
   4	California	$39,361	$19
   5	Massachusetts	$38,423	$18
   6	Texas	$37,008	$18
   7	Arkansas	$36,789	$18
   8	Connecticut	$36,192	$17
   9	Ohio	$35,915	$17
   10	Illinois	$35,231	$17
   11	Wisconsin	$34,447	$17
   12	Colorado	$33,038	$16
   13	Missouri	$33,010	$16
   14	Iowa	$31,163	$15

   Average behavioral therapist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	George C. Grape Community Hospital	$70,771	$34.02
   2	San Luis Valley Behavioral Health Group	$64,757	$31.13
   3	Cleveland Clinic	$61,823	$29.72	41
   4	Broadlawns Medical Center	$59,550	$28.63
   5	UPMC	$59,430	$28.57	44
   6	ProMedica Toledo Hospital	$58,381	$28.07	10
   7	St. Vincent Charity Medical Center	$53,503	$25.72
   8	Summa Health	$52,253	$25.12	4
   9	SwedishAmerican	$48,931	$23.52	2
   10	Newtown School District	$47,473	$22.82	2
   11	Maxim Healthcare Group	$47,423	$22.80	169
   12	Child & Adolescent Behavioral Health	$47,393	$22.79	1
   13	Willis-Knighton	$45,397	$21.83	3
   14	Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center, Inc.	$45,086	$21.68
   15	HCR ManorCare	$44,511	$21.40	11
   16	BayCare Health System	$44,499	$21.39	24
   17	Arlington County, VA	$44,334	$21.31
   18	Southern Indian Health Council	$42,862	$20.61
   19	Lake County	$42,702	$20.53	16
   20	Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital Inc	$41,288	$19.85	1

4. Writing a behavioral therapist job description

   A behavioral therapist job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a behavioral therapist job description:

   Behavioral therapist job description example

   Job DescriptionCommunity Health and Wellness, LLC offers top notch services for individuals with disabilities throughout Texas. We have current openings in Austin, Texas with
   FLEXIBLE HOURS and COMPETITIVE RATES !
   
   This position is for 10+ hours per week!
   
   We are seeking Independent Contract therapists to serve for the following:
   
   Provide one-on-one therapy sessions with children and adults with disabilities. Create tailored programs to meet the needs of individuals with TBI, PTSD, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Spinal Cord Injury, Spina Bifida, Developmental Delay, and/or other physical or intellectual disabilities Provide evaluations and ongoing services. Complete Weekly and Quarterly Documentation as needed In order to provide services, candidates must fall under the following:
   
   Behavioral Support Provider Who Is:
   
   A psychologist licensed in accordance with the Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 501; A provisional license holder licensed in accordance with the Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 501; A psychological associate licensed in accordance the Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 501; A clinical social worker licensed in accordance with the Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 505; A licensed professional counselor licensed in accordance with the Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 503; or A behavior analyst certified by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Inc.; Has received training in behavioral support or have experience in providing behavioral support.
   All Service Providers must have the following:
   
   Resume Certification/License in respective field (LCSW, LPC, BCBA, etc) Auto Insurance Professional Liability Insurance (upon hire) Valid Driver's License Valid Social Security Card
   check out our web site to learn more www.chawtx.com
   
   Job Type: Contract

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right behavioral therapist for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with behavioral therapists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit behavioral therapists who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your behavioral therapist job on Zippia to find and recruit behavioral therapist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with behavioral therapist candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new behavioral therapist

   Once you've found the behavioral therapist candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new behavioral therapist. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a behavioral therapist?