How to hire a day treatment clinician/art therapist

How to hire a day treatment clinician/art therapist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step day treatment clinician/art 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 day treatment clinician/art therapist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new day treatment clinician/art therapist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a day treatment clinician/art therapist, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   A day treatment clinician/art therapist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, day treatment clinician/art therapists from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   The following list breaks down different types of day treatment clinician/art therapists and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Day Treatment Clinician/Art Therapist	Description	Hourly rate
   Day Treatment Clinician/Art Therapist	Recreational therapists plan, direct, and coordinate recreation-based treatment programs for people with disabilities, injuries, or illnesses. Recreational therapists use a variety of modalities, including arts and crafts, drama, music, dance, sports, games, and community reintegration field trips to help maintain or improve a patient’s physical, social, and emotional well-being.	$16-33
   Mental Health Counselor	A mental health counselor is responsible for helping patients deal with their emotional and mental disorders by developing treatment plans and conducting regular counseling to track the patient's progress and condition. Mental health counselors encourage active communication from their patients, provide coping strategies for triggering situations, seek advice from other health care professionals, and guide patients on doing other activities that would help them relax... Show more	$16-33
   Art Internship	In an art internship, an intern's duties primarily depend on the directives of a manager and the place of employment. Typically, their duties revolve around gaining industry insights and experience while performing support tasks such as preparing and processing documents, answering calls and correspondence, organizing and forwarding files, and running errands... Show more	$10-18

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Social Work
   • Substance Abuse
   • Group Therapy Sessions
   • Mental Illness
   • Mental Health
   • Clinical Supervision
   • Behavioral Issues
   • Autism
   • Behavior Management
   • Clinical Assessments
   • Rehabilitation
   • Clinical Services
   • Community Resources
   • Crisis Intervention

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Create and manage print shop, darkroom and ceramic studio for rehabilitation purposes.
   • Provide individual, short-term treatment and individual DBT treatment.
   • Attend school meetings with supervisor, including IEP and behavior meetings to promote coordination between the program and the school.
   • Provide strategies and interventions to support rehabilitation in educational and home settings.
   • Provide training for federal and public organizations regarding the psychological aspects of veterans having experience combat or military sexual trauma.
   • Complete intake and assessments of PTSD.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your day treatment clinician/art therapist job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A day treatment clinician/art therapist can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, day treatment clinician/art therapists' average salary in maine is 58% less than in alaska.
   • Seniority. Entry-level day treatment clinician/art therapists 50% less than senior-level day treatment clinician/art therapists.
   • Certifications. A day treatment clinician/art therapist with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a day treatment clinician/art therapist's salary.

   Average day treatment clinician/art therapist salary

   $50,287yearly

   $24.18 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level day treatment clinician/art therapist salary

   $35,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 23, 2026

4. Writing a day treatment clinician/art therapist job description

   A day treatment clinician/art 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. Below, you can find an example of a day treatment clinician/art therapist job description:

   Day treatment clinician/art therapist job description example

   Options Family & Behavior Services started in 1998 as a way of responding to the mental health needs of youth in our community. Enjoy a true team approach that offers group, individual, and family therapy in one package. We use the systems model of working with adolescents with co-occurring mental health and chemical dependency. It's an investment of training and learning you will use for the rest of your professional experience.
   
   Day Treatment Psychotherapists will provide group psychotherapy and lead skills-based groups for adolescents, as well as provide individual psychotherapy, for the purpose of improving a client’s mental health and/or chemical dependency issues. They will also complete required documentation and record-keeping according to Rule 245G and CTSS criteria.

   Benefits include training consultation in group dynamics, individual therapy and family systems with clinical supervision. This is a direct track to becoming a fully licensed mental health professional.

   Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:00pm

   Pay: $25.00/hr.+, DOQ.

   Locations: ENTER OPENINGS

   WHAT DOES OPTIONS FAMILY & BEHAVIOR SERVICES OFFER YOU?

   • Employees will receive 6 hours of clinical supervision towards licensure per month.
   • Structured clinical trainings in co-occurring disorders, DBT, EMDR, Trauma-responsive care, and systemic therapies.
   • A rewarding work environment and company culture
   • A chance to make a difference in people’s lives on a daily basis
   • Competitive pay rates, paid time off, and benefits for 30+ hour work week
   • Paid training
   • 10 paid holidays off
   • Career development and advancement opportunities.
   • Collaborative working environment

   WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR IN A CANDIDATE?

   • Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling or Social Work. If candidate has a Master’s in Social Work, valid licensure as an LGSW is required.
   • Experience delivering mental health services to children or adolescents preferred
   • Valid driver’s license and proof of auto insurance
   • Must pass a Department of Human Services background study

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right day treatment clinician/art therapist for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   To find day treatment clinician/art therapist candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting day treatment clinician/art therapists requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   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 day treatment clinician/art therapist

   Once you've selected the best day treatment clinician/art therapist candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   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.

   To prepare for the new day treatment clinician/art therapist first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

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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