How to hire a mental health consultant

How to hire a mental health consultant, step by step

Here's a step-by-step mental health consultant hiring guide:

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

What does a mental health consultant do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The mental health consultant 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

   A mental health consultant's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, mental health consultants 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 mental health consultants and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Mental Health Consultant	Description	Hourly rate
   Mental Health Consultant	Social workers help people solve and cope with problems in their everyday lives. One group of social workers—clinical social workers—also diagnose and treat mental, behavioral, and emotional issues.	$16-36
   Therapeutic Support Staff	A therapeutic support staff member specializes in providing guidance and counseling to individuals with emotional support needs, mainly children. They are primarily responsible for building rapport with clients while assessing their different conditions and needs... Show more	$12-20
   Marriage And Family Therapist	Marriage and family therapists are health professionals who are licensed to diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders of married couples and families. These therapists are required to treat patients with issues such as child and adolescent behavioral problems, depression and anxiety, and marital conflicts... Show more	$19-38

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Healthcare
   • Substance Abuse
   • Patients
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Social Work
   • Patient Care
   • Autism
   • Data Analysis
   • Public Health
   • Health Plan
   • Rehabilitation
   • Group Therapy
   • Community Resources
   • Mental Health Issues

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Serve as resource person for family health physicians at clinic on managing psychotropic medications for medical patients with psychiatric problems.
   • Evaluate patients for psychiatric and behavioral health issues; make recommendations regarding treatment measures, including medications and non-pharmacological treatments.
   • Supervise residential staff and provide individual and group counseling services in rehabilitation centers.
   • Provide occupational therapy consultation services to center's authorities to enhance intern's rehabilitation.
   • Program communication and development working with service providers, healthcare association and organizations to establish a state-wide tobacco treatment safety network.
   • Analyze and compare relate cases of past and present communicable diseases and STDs incidence to identify disease trends or patterns.

   More mental health consultant duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your mental health consultant job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A mental health consultant can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, mental health consultants' average salary in arkansas is 58% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level mental health consultants 55% less than senior-level mental health consultants.
   • Certifications. A mental health consultant 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 mental health consultant's salary.

   Average mental health consultant salary

   $51,006yearly

   $24.52 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level mental health consultant salary

   $34,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average mental health consultant salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$78,439	$38
   2	New York	$74,033	$36
   3	New Jersey	$72,397	$35
   4	Alaska	$68,904	$33
   5	Washington	$67,092	$32
   6	Oregon	$62,096	$30
   7	Minnesota	$61,413	$30
   8	Connecticut	$58,130	$28
   9	Illinois	$54,338	$26
   10	Colorado	$53,904	$26
   11	Virginia	$53,284	$26
   12	Florida	$51,792	$25
   13	Montana	$50,475	$24
   14	North Carolina	$49,380	$24
   15	Ohio	$48,619	$23
   16	Wyoming	$47,455	$23
   17	Pennsylvania	$47,095	$23
   18	Oklahoma	$45,560	$22
   19	Missouri	$45,413	$22
   20	Louisiana	$44,864	$22

   Average mental health consultant salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Guidehouse	$77,555	$37.29	1
   2	Booz Allen Hamilton	$72,858	$35.03	1
   3	HealthTrust	$68,269	$32.82	4
   4	Erie Neighborhood House	$66,776	$32.10
   5	Accenture	$66,714	$32.07	5
   6	Multnomah County	$62,947	$30.26	18
   7	Cerner	$61,035	$29.34
   8	PHMC	$60,730	$29.20	8
   9	Childhaven	$60,400	$29.04
   10	Kaiser Permanente	$60,362	$29.02	143
   11	State of West Virginia	$60,179	$28.93	126
   12	Florida Department of Transportation	$59,375	$28.55
   13	Kidango	$59,115	$28.42	2
   14	State Of Florida	$58,924	$28.33	98
   15	University of Maryland Medical System	$58,225	$27.99	33
   16	Minnesota State Fair	$58,091	$27.93	17
   17	Job Corps	$56,495	$27.16	2
   18	University Health	$56,492	$27.16	12
   19	Center for Families & Children Inc.	$56,045	$26.94	22
   20	Cigna	$55,843	$26.85	37

4. Writing a mental health consultant job description

   A job description for a mental health consultant role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a mental health consultant job description:

   Mental health consultant job description example

   Full Time Behavioral Health Consultant (LPC, LMFT, CSWA, LCSW) - Sisters/ Redmond, Oregon
   
   This is an amazing opportunity to join a great team at High Lakes! In this role, you will provide high quality, patient focused care in a vibrant and collaborative primary care setting. You will be part of a clinical team, in a dynamic primary care clinic, where behavioral health clinicians work side by side with clinical support staff, physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants.
   
   In this position, the BHC is responsible for providing brief, evidence-based behavioral health services to patients and families including direct counseling services, intervention, and coordination of community services/resources. Performance of duties will be in the context of an interdisciplinary team in a primary care clinic.
   Benefit Highlights: Generous 'above market' compensation Full benefits package: health, dental, vision, life, 401k (with match), holidays and more Flexible work schedules Full Time opportunities Telemedicine and in-person flexibility Collegial work environment. Full administrative support Strong work/life balance Specific Areas of Responsibility Operate in a consultative role within a primary care team utilizing the Primary Care Behavioral Health model. Provide recommendations regarding behavioral interventions to the referring Primary Care Provider (PCP). Conduct brief interventions with referred patients on behalf of the referring PCP. Conduct comprehensive, culturally sensitive psychosocial assessments, help develops care plans, and provides evidence-based counseling and intervention services to individuals and families. Coordinates services with appropriate clinic and community resources. Document assessment, intervention, and treatment data in medical record. Serve as liaison to community health care network. To submit your CV, or for more information, please contact Shannon Lynch, Provider and Medical Recruitment, Praxis Health,
   Education and/or Experience Master's degree in relevant discipline. Credentialed as LCSW, LPC, or LMFT Skills: Knowledge of professional behavioral health (psychology, counseling, social work) principles, methodology, and ethics and of human psychosocial development within the family, community, and culture. Knowledge of the use of therapeutic relationship to foster patient involvement. Familiarity with brief evidence-based therapy theories/techniques and therapeutic process. Understanding of techniques for facilitating client motivation to change behavior. Knowledge of health and social issues impacting diverse clients and their well-being. Skill in crisis intervention and case management. Familiarity with electronic medical records. Ability to interact effectively as member of interdisciplinary health care team, identify and utilize community resources and communicate appropriately with diverse patient population..
   Praxis Health is the Pacific Northwest's leading independent healthcare network, providing the highest levels of individualized patient care. With a mission to improve the health and well-being of our community, we are committed to providing outstanding and compassionate care. It all starts with putting patients and families at the forefront. Our efforts focus not only on providing exceptional patient care when it is needed, but also on the wellness services and community outreach that engage and empower the people we serve to take charge of their health. All delivered by a team of mission driven physicians, employees and administrators - the best minds and the biggest hearts - to help ensure the safest, highest quality of care for all. For more, please click here:
   While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; walk;
   use hand to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to site and stoop, kneel or crouch the employee must
   regularly lift and /or move up to 10 pounds, frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds
   and occasionally lift and/or move up to 100 pounds.
   
   
   EOE Disabled/Veteran Praxis Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer and provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find mental health consultants for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit mental health consultants, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to 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 mental health consultant

   Once you've decided on a perfect mental health consultant 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 also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new mental health consultant 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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