How to hire a therapist

How to hire a therapist, step by step

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

What does a therapist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the therapist you need to hire. Certain therapist roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

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

   Type of Therapist	Description	Hourly rate
   Therapist	Physical therapists, sometimes called PTs, help injured or ill people improve their movement and manage their pain. These therapists are often an important part of the rehabilitation, treatment, and prevention of patients with chronic conditions, illnesses, or injuries.	$18-38
   Clinician	A clinician specializes in providing diagnosis, treatment, and direct care to patients with different illnesses. A clinician's duties mainly revolve around conducting extensive research and analysis, providing medical care through various therapies, and improving one's overall health condition... Show more	$16-49
   Mental Health Nurse	A mental health nurse is responsible for assisting with the diagnosis and treatment plans of patients with mental health complications. Mental health nurses handle high-quality nursing care under mental health professionals' supervision within a hospital or mental health institution... Show more	$29-87

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Social Work
   • Patients
   • Group Therapy Sessions
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Mental Health
   • Patient Care
   • Community Resources
   • Therapeutic Services
   • Therapy Services
   • Rehabilitation
   • Discharge Planning
   • Autism
   • Substance Abuse Issues
   • Foster Care

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage ventilator and BiPAP's and create or update care plans per patient needs.
   • Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
   • Provide on-call crisis intervention as well as standard treatment, rehabilitation and support services with some interventions requiring specialize therapy services.
   • Develop and implement an effective curriculum of DBT inform group and art therapy classes specifically tailor for chemically dependent patients.
   • Provide trauma-inform individual psychotherapy, TREM group treatment protocol, and EMDR.
   • Utilize current brain base therapeutic techniques to teach clients adaptive skills to utilize in daily lives.

   More therapist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your therapist job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A therapist salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a therapist in Hawaii may be lower than in California, and an entry-level therapist usually earns less than a senior-level therapist. Additionally, a therapist with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average therapist salary

   $55,943yearly

   $26.90 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level therapist salary

   $39,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 27, 2025

   Average therapist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$77,931	$37
   2	Maryland	$62,119	$30
   3	New York	$61,297	$29
   4	Washington	$60,755	$29
   5	Maine	$58,928	$28
   6	Minnesota	$58,798	$28
   7	Pennsylvania	$58,386	$28
   8	Texas	$55,570	$27
   9	Illinois	$55,189	$27
   10	Arizona	$54,615	$26
   11	North Carolina	$53,430	$26
   12	Oregon	$52,994	$25
   13	Ohio	$51,851	$25
   14	Georgia	$50,118	$24
   15	Colorado	$48,985	$24
   16	Utah	$48,369	$23
   17	Tennessee	$46,582	$22
   18	Missouri	$44,396	$21
   19	Kansas	$44,226	$21

   Average therapist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Childhelp	$96,296	$46.30	1
   2	Masada Home Care	$88,010	$42.31
   3	Crossroads Counseling	$84,853	$40.79
   4	Indian Creek Foundation	$83,627	$40.21	2
   5	Suncoast Center	$81,861	$39.36	4
   6	Seacoast Mental Health Center	$78,475	$37.73
   7	Canvas Health	$77,146	$37.09	12
   8	Columbia University in the City of New York	$75,877	$36.48	1
   9	Premier Behavioral Solutions Inc	$74,509	$35.82	1
   10	Montage Health	$74,332	$35.74	11
   11	Blessing Hospital Emergency Room	$72,979	$35.09	7
   12	Thriveworks	$72,162	$34.69	920
   13	Union of Pan Asian Communities-UPAC	$72,145	$34.69
   14	Cook Children's Medical Center	$71,451	$34.35	8
   15	Chesapeake Regional Healthcare	$71,444	$34.35	1
   16	Hca Hospital Services Of San Diego	$71,401	$34.33
   17	Homestead Hospice	$71,301	$34.28
   18	Alleghany	$71,092	$34.18	1
   19	Aegis Therapies	$70,983	$34.13	84
   20	Lone Star Circle of Care	$70,612	$33.95	2

4. Writing a therapist job description

   A 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 therapist job description:

   Therapist job description example

   · Minimum 1 year experience in relevant field preferred

   PREFERRED KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:

   · Excellent critical thinking skills

   · Excellent organizational abilities

   · Excellent communication skills; ability to communicate clearly and concisely, verbally and in writing

   · Quickly and effectively identify and resolve problematic situations

   · Comfortable analyzing information and dealing with complexity

   · Attention to detail and accuracy

   · Able to handle confidential material in a reliable manner

   · Ability to interact and communicate with individuals at all levels of organization

   · Ability to perform several tasks concurrently with ease and professionalism

   · Ability to effectively prioritize workload in a fast-paced environment

   · Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite

   REQUIRED CERTIFICATES/LICENSES/REGISTRATIONS:

   • Master’s Degree in Social work or Counseling with licensure or pursuing licensure for LIMHP, LMHP, or LPC, LCSW, LMFT

   · Preferred candidates have an LADC certification

   • Must maintain current and nationally accredited CPR/First Aid/AED certification

   SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

   · None

   PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT:

   The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

   · Must have reasonable ability to stand, walk, sit, handle, feel, reach, climb or balance, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl, talk, hear, taste and smell

   · Must be able to lift up to 20lbs

   · Environment is a forty-four (44) bed residential treatment atmosphere with access to an outside patio. Work environment may include exposure to outside weather conditions

   · Exposure to disturbed and potentially aggressive patients is possible. Stress ranges from low to intense depending on the situation

   CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

   · Completion of a tuberculin screening during first week of employment

   · Completion of a pre-employment drug screening, post-accident and random for upon reasonable suspicion of use

   · Completion of orientation and required paperwork prior to reporting to work

   · Demonstrated computer literacy

   · Completion of CPR/First Aid Training before hire

   · Attendance at all mandatory staff development and training

   · Completion of Health and Welfare background check

   · Must be vaccinated against COVID-19

   This job description is not intended, and should not be construed, to be exhaustive lists of all responsibilities, skills, efforts or working conditions associated with this job. It is meant to be an accurate reflection of the principal job elements essential for making fair pay decisions about jobs.

   Employees with potential access to protected health information must comply with all procedures and guidelines governed by HIPAA.

   Northpoint is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Northpoint is an At-Will employer. Employment may be terminated at any time by employee, or employer with or without notice.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find therapists 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.

   To find 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

   To successfully recruit therapists, 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. 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 therapist

   Once you've selected the best 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 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.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new 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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