How to hire a marriage and family therapist

How to hire a marriage and family therapist, step by step

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

What does a marriage and family therapist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your marriage and family therapist 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 marriage and family therapist 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

   A marriage and family therapist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, marriage and family 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.

   This list presents marriage and family therapist salaries for various positions.

   Type of Marriage And Family Therapist	Description	Hourly rate
   Marriage And Family Therapist	Mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists help people manage and overcome mental and emotional disorders and problems with family and other relationships. They listen to clients and ask questions to help the clients understand their problems and develop strategies to improve their lives.	$19-38
   Addictions Counselor	An Addictions Counselor helps patients overcome personal addiction problems, such as dependence on drugs, alcohol, and other substances. They evaluate the condition of their client through examining, asking questions, and recommending the proper treatment options.	$15-32
   Clinical Counselor	A Clinical Counselor interviews clients to assess their mental health and behavioral problems. They examine issues such as substance abuse, depression, stress, aging and self-image.	$20-32

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Social Work
   • Patients
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Substance Abuse
   • Mental Illness
   • Mental Health
   • MFT
   • Individual Therapy
   • Group Therapy Sessions
   • Child Abuse
   • Anxiety Disorders
   • Therapeutic Services
   • Community Resources
   • Private Practice

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Conduct play therapy with elementary age students to help manage anxiety, divorce, ADHD, etc.
   • Develop effective treatment plans and implement evidence-base strategies to assist patients in alleviating psychological symptoms and achieving goals.
   • Train in EMDR, DBT, work with divorce issues, PTSD, deployment/reunification, anxiety, and depression issues.
   • Counsele patients experiencing common mental health problems including emotional and physical abuse, family issues, relationship problems and parenting problems.
   • Attend weekly DBT team meetings and supervision including mindfulness activities and focus on DBT principles.
   • Administer outcome measures to track baseline symptoms, such as the YOQ, CBCL, UCLA PTSD assessment tools.

   More marriage and family therapist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your marriage and family therapist job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A marriage and family therapist can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, marriage and family therapists' average salary in south carolina is 44% less than in pennsylvania.
   • Seniority. Entry-level marriage and family therapists 49% less than senior-level marriage and family therapists.
   • Certifications. A marriage and family 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 marriage and family therapist's salary.

   Average marriage and family therapist salary

   $57,856yearly

   $27.82 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level marriage and family therapist salary

   $41,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 29, 2025

   Average marriage and family therapist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Pennsylvania	$74,268	$36
   2	New York	$66,286	$32
   3	Texas	$64,940	$31
   4	California	$62,307	$30
   5	Virginia	$61,698	$30
   6	Illinois	$60,505	$29
   7	Connecticut	$56,750	$27
   8	Arizona	$55,569	$27
   9	Washington	$54,918	$26
   10	Georgia	$53,648	$26
   11	North Carolina	$51,774	$25
   12	Oklahoma	$51,625	$25
   13	Tennessee	$48,847	$23
   14	Louisiana	$47,613	$23
   15	Arkansas	$46,577	$22
   16	Florida	$44,059	$21

   Average marriage and family therapist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Henderson Behavioral Health	$91,232	$43.86
   2	Thriveworks	$81,333	$39.10	340
   3	Medical Billing	$78,326	$37.66
   4	Tarzana Treatment Centers	$76,183	$36.63	31
   5	Wellpath	$75,765	$36.43	31
   6	Accountable Healthcare Holdings Corp.	$75,505	$36.30
   7	Sharp HealthCare	$65,807	$31.64	13
   8	Maricopa County	$64,274	$30.90	3
   9	Gotham	$64,138	$30.84	892
   10	Advanced Recovery Systems	$63,453	$30.51	27
   11	THERAPY SOLUTIONS	$63,173	$30.37	6
   12	STG International	$63,082	$30.33	13
   13	Santa Clara County	$61,307	$29.47
   14	American Psychological Association	$61,060	$29.36
   15	Kaiser Permanente	$59,963	$28.83	121
   16	Suncoast Post-Tension	$59,173	$28.45
   17	Eden Health	$58,696	$28.22	1
   18	Hathaway-Sycamores Child & Family Services	$58,286	$28.02	17
   19	Sinai Chicago	$56,939	$27.37
   20	Charter Oak Health Center	$56,163	$27.00	1

4. Writing a marriage and family therapist job description

   A marriage and family 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 marriage and family therapist job description:

   Marriage and family therapist job description example

   
   What is this job is about?
   
   You will be a therapist on a remote Telehealth Platform, Client's sessions are usually 45 minutes. We take a solution-based approach to our therapy. Therapy is typically short term and there are usually up to 12-24 sessions, however clients are able to stay longer with their therapists if they wish to.
   
   You will see these clients through video chat or over the audio option of our platform. You're also able to help the mental health community as a clinician seeing clients on a remote basis at the convenience of your house or anywhere that you chose to work remotely.
   
   About us:
   
   We are the leading telehealth agency in the US right now. We have been busy during this pandemic helping the community with their mental health. The change from in office therapy to remote telehealth is rapidly increasing each day. We have been helping clients that struggle with depression anxiety ocd adhd grief and relationship problems. We find therapists and Clients like the comfort of remote work better.
   
   There are no seriously addicted clients or psychotic clients on this platform. All of them are stable and low acute.
   
   We are experiencing rapid growth in these past two years and we are in need of hiring many more licensed mental health counselors to help treat our community.
   
   

   
   

   Requirements

   You must have an LMFT License or the independent equivalence to your state.

   Benefits

   Completely flexible - You create your own schedule! You can work as few as 5 hours a week or up to 40 hrs. + a week, seeing clients weekdays and/or weekends.
   Compensation:
   $100,000 per year for full-time, plus a full benefits stipend of $650 is provided for counselors who consistently work 30+ hours a week for two months.
   Sign-on Bonus:
   There is a VERY substantial sign-on bonus for new Licensed Mental Health Professionals who join our company

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right marriage and family 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.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your marriage and family therapist job on Zippia to find and recruit marriage and family therapist 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 marriage and family therapists, 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 marriage and family therapist

   Once you have selected a candidate for the marriage and family therapist position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new marriage and family 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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How much does it cost to hire a marriage and family therapist?