How to hire a health psychologist

How to hire a health psychologist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step health psychologist hiring guide:

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

Post a health psychologist job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your health psychologist job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a health psychologist for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   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 health psychologist 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 health psychologist salaries for various positions.

   Type of Health Psychologist	Description	Hourly rate
   Health Psychologist	Psychologists study cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior by observing, interpreting, and recording how people relate to one another and their environments.	$26-56
   Psychotherapist	A Psychotherapist's responsibility is to help clients who suffer from symptoms like depression, anxiety, and other behavioral problems. They work with individuals, couples, and families.	$20-53
   Forensic Psychologist	Forensic Psychologists are responsible for evaluating and treating criminal behavior. Their duties include conducting forensic assessments, developing rehabilitation programs, reviewing offender treatments, carrying out research projects, and carrying out forensic statistical analysis... Show more	$26-58

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Behavioral Health
   • APA
   • Patient Care
   • Rehabilitation
   • Substance Abuse
   • Program Development
   • Mental Illness
   • Mental Health
   • Clinical Supervision
   • Group Therapy
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Adolescents
   • Psychiatry

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Provide a broad array of psychological services for children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families.
   • Administer and interpret psychological tests, provide crisis intervention and orientation for new patients.
   • Utilize CBT, EMDR, client centered & humanitarian approaches.
   • Utilize biofeedback, CBT therapy, behavioral-change exercises, etc.
   • Work directly with physiatrists in developing patient's treatment plan for rehabilitation.
   • Support clients with psychiatry referral, aide in medication understanding and management.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your health psychologist job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A health psychologist salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, health psychologists' average salary in hawaii is 50% less than in delaware.
   • Seniority. Entry-level health psychologists earn 53% less than senior-level health psychologists.
   • Certifications. A health psychologist with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a health psychologist's salary.

   Average health psychologist salary

   $81,412yearly

   $39.14 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level health psychologist salary

   $55,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

4. Writing a health psychologist job description

   A health psychologist 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 health psychologist job description:

   Health psychologist job description example

   If where you work matters to you, this hospital will be the right place for your career to blossom! A prestigious non profit Medical Center in beautiful, coastal and bustling Bay Area in Northern California is now actively searching for a Supervisor of Psychologist to add to its passionate team of healthcare professionals.
   
   The Supervisor of Behavioral Health Services will join a hospital that is a leader in the health care industry and an excellent place to work. As an employee, you will be part of a dedicated group of caring professionals with the resources, training and expertise to provide patients with the most advanced medical care.
   
   The Supervisor of Psychological Services will serve a key role in supervising professional service within the Behavioral Health Department. The Psychological Services include the Psychiatric Intake Department, the ER Consultation Service and Psychological Services provided in the inpatient units.
   
   The Supervisor of Mental Health Services will oversee the Psychiatric Intake Department that facilitates and supervises involuntary and voluntary admissions to the Psychiatric Hospital. The Supervisor of Psychological Services will also manage the ER Consultation Service that provides crisis evaluation services including 5150 determinations as well as involuntary and voluntary psychiatric admission recommendations.
   
   The Supervisor of Psychological Services will manage the inpatient units that offer services like assessment, psychological testing, face to face evaluations, court hearing evaluations, and other psychological evaluations and interventions. This Supervisor of Psychologist will involve in the hiring, training and supervision of Psychologists, Psychiatric Intake Coordinators and administrative staff.
   
   The Supervisor of Psychologist will be responsible for development and coordinating both a supervisory and a liaison relationship between the Behavioral Health Service internally and externally. The Supervisor of Behavioral Health will also be coordinating with the Patient Access Center who will provide non-clinical support to the Psychiatric Intake Department as well as some afterhours clinical support, and ensuring quality and continuity of processes and services provided to the clinicians, referring providers, community partners, and patients.
   
   The ideal candidate for Supervising Psychologist should have Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology or a related field, with field placement in a psychiatric or clinical setting emphasizing the mental health needs of severely disordered psychiatric inpatients is required. Supervisory experience in a psychiatric or clinical hospital setting is required. The Supervisor of Psychological Services must possess a current and valid Psychology License in the State of California.
   As you consider employment with this Medical Center, you will be joining other compassionate caregivers dedicated to patients and working as a team to provide comprehensive services with exceptional outcomes. You will also join one of San Francisco Bay Area's largest private, not-for-profit medical center part of a growing healthcare system. Join the team now!

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right health psychologist 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.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit health psychologists, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   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 health psychologist

   Once you've decided on a perfect health psychologist candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is 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.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a health psychologist?