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Your guide to hiring a therapist for your group practice

Learn how to hire a therapist for your group practice with Headway’s expert guide — covering recruitment and interviewing strategies to build your ideal therapy team.

September 12, 2025

By Ryan DeCook, LCSW

7 min read

By Ryan DeCook, LCSW

Picture this: You’re planning to hire another therapist for your practice but have no idea where to start. With all of the resources available, it can be difficult to kick off the process. Whether you’re expanding an existing practice or starting a new group therapy practice, this guide will walk you step-by-step through building a strategy to hire the right person with confidence.

Understanding your practice's hiring needs

Before taking a step towards hiring a new therapist, assess your practice’s current reality. Are you struggling to keep up with client demand? Do you have the capacity to manage another clinician? Does hiring align with your long-term vision? Once you have answered some of these core questions, then you may determine that it's time to hire a new therapist.

Next, you should review how much unmet client demand exists. Identify any service gaps, such as specialties and demographics, and determine the level of expertise required. Factor in associated costs and projected revenue. This clarity ensures that every next step is grounded in strategy.  

Identifying the right therapist profile for your practice

Based on what your reflection reveals about your practice needs, you can start to frame the criteria for your ideal therapist hire. Your vision and values within the practice should be the paramount guide when identifying a therapist who fits. Caseload demand and client needs should inform the experience, specializations, and demographics of the therapist. You can write out a profile of the ideal therapist for your practice, which will inform the framework of your search criteria.

If you are considering hiring early-career clinicians, look for a mix of foundational experience and the potential to develop your desired specialties. Their vision for growth needs to align with your vision for the ideal candidate.

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Preparing your recruitment strategy

Once you have defined your ideal candidate, map out where you can find them and the channels you'll use to reach them. Then set a clear budget — both with time and money. Align it with your timeline expectations for hiring. This timeline will influence the pace of your time and money invested into the hiring process.

Next, research a competitive compensation package for your area that will help attract the best talent. Decide whether the role will be a contractor or W2 employee, ensuring compliance with state laws. You can also benchmark pay, benefits, caseload requirements, and professional development by reviewing local job postings and asking practice owner peers in your network.

Crafting an attractive job description

With your strategy in place, you can craft a job description around that. Detail the mission of your practice and what you’re looking for in a candidate by using inviting language. Highlight the meaningful work a therapist will do at your practice. Write with the job-seeking therapist in mind. What would make them interested in your practice? How will they benefit and advance their career from this opportunity? Offer clear next steps for anyone who is interested. 

Group practice job description template

Job Description: Mental Health Therapist — [Your Group Practice Name]

Join our vibrant team dedicated to creating a culture of compassion, growth, and collaboration at [your practice name]! We’re excited to welcome a [Licensed/Associate] Mental Health Therapist who is passionate about making a meaningful impact in clients’ lives. 

About Us

At [your practice name], you’re not just joining a workplace; you’re becoming part of a supportive team that celebrates diversity, continuous learning, and positive well-being for both staff and clients. We empower our team with the resources, flexibility, and encouragement needed to thrive professionally and personally.

Role Overview

We’re searching for a therapist who believes in the power of connection, evidence-based care, and working alongside skilled, warm-hearted colleagues. You will provide individual, group, and family therapy, helping clients bloom and reach their goals.

Key Responsibilities

  • Perform strengths-based biopsychosocial assessments and develop tailored treatment plans.
  • Deliver compassionate, evidence-based therapy sessions for individuals, families, and groups.
  • Maintain client records with utmost care and confidentiality.
  • Collaborate generously with colleagues to ensure holistic, wraparound support for clients.
  • Contribute to our uplifting community through team consultations, supervision, and ongoing learning.

Qualifications

  • Master’s degree (or higher) in counseling, psychology, social work, or related discipline
  • Current state licensure and professional liability insurance (if applicable)
  • Warm, empathetic engagement and exceptional listening skills
  • Prior experience with [specific populations or approaches]
  • Strong commitment to inclusivity, growth, and ethical practice

Competitive Compensation & Benefits: Receive market-leading pay, health coverage, retirement plans, and paid time off.

Flexible Scheduling: Enjoy a reasonable caseload, adaptable hours, and the possibility of remote/telehealth sessions to support balance.

Continuing Education Support: We actively fund your professional development, offering paid CE opportunities, trainings, and mentorship.

Culture of Celebration: Join a workplace that recognizes achievements, values open communication, and encourages innovation.

Wellness Focus: Benefit from mental health days, access to mindfulness workshops, and holistic support for your happiness at work.

Diversity & Equity Commitment: We strive to build an inclusive team where every staff member’s voice matters and every client feels welcome.

How to Apply

Send your resume, cover letter, and references to [application email]. We’re honored by each application and will provide clear communication about the process.

Finding qualified therapist candidates

Depending on your budget, you can refine your search locations. Looking for referrals within your network is one of the best places to start. To do that, you can send a mass email, direct message individuals on LinkedIn, or meet in person with some well-connected people in your network. 

Social media therapist groups are also a great resource. These groups are active with helpful members. Depending on the rules of the group, you can post your search and ask for candidate referrals. This can be an effective and cost-free initial step.


Professional associations and graduate school associations are also good places to consult. They may offer places to post job opportunities. Strong relationships with these groups can serve as an ongoing pipeline of quality therapists. 


Social media can be an effective way to market your practice to clients. But it can also be used to attract applicants for open roles. Linkedin, TherapyJobs, and Indeed are some other key channels to post your job opening. Many candidates go to these places when in search of a job. A promoted, highly visible post on these sites may cost money, but can be well worth it for the volume of candidates who will see your job description. Often using multiple channels is what can lead to more visibility, more potential candidates, and the right hire.

The interview process for therapists

The interview for a candidate begins before they connect with someone from your team. A good screening process of resumes and applications is the first step. When you have effectively assessed candidates and narrowed your search upfront, you can feel confident that you’re only meeting with qualified candidates.

The first step in directly connecting with the candidate is to follow up and offer an initial phone or video call. These phone screens are usually brief, about 15 to 30 minutes. They give you the chance to get a general feel for the applicant’s expertise and culture alignment with your practice.

The next step is a full interview. You should be the lead interviewer, but may include other team members who can help inform your decision. This is your chance to ask deep questions, get a true feel for the candidate, and assess whether they'll be an effective addition to the team. You might consider providing a vignette of a hypothetical client, asking for the candidate’s differential diagnostic process and treatment approach they would take with that client.

After this main interview, if you feel the decision is clear, you should enthusiastically make an offer. If you still have questions or are struggling to decide between two candidates, you can have a third interview. Focus final questions on addressing any remaining uncertainties. Let the candidates know from the beginning that this final interview is a possibility during the process. 

Evaluating clinical skills and therapeutic approach

  • Ask directly: Straightforward questions can prompt the candidate to describe their interventions and approach. Listen particularly for references to evidence-based approaches.
  • Offer a vignette: Providing a hypothetical case to a candidate can reveal much about their level of insight and skill as a clinician. Have the candidate describe their process for diagnosis and treatment. Discern how their answer aligns with the approach you desire for clinicians in your practice.
  • Try roleplay: Instead of just discussing a case hypothetically, you can act as the hypothetical client. The candidate can then apply their assessment and intervention approach in real time. You can experience what it would feel like to sit across from this therapist as a client.
  • Review assessment data: Providing the candidate with some de-identified assessment results to interpret can be useful, especially if the candidate will frequently be providing psychological assessments. 

Essential questions to ask therapist candidates

Here is a core set of questions that can be used during the interview process:

  • What do you value in a team and work environment?
  • What role do you see supervision and peer support playing in your professional growth and the care you provide?
  • What is your best team experience and how did you contribute to that?
  • Can you describe your preferred therapeutic approaches and why you prefer those?
  • (After presenting vignette) Can you please walk us through your approach to assessment, diagnosis, and intervention for this client?
  • Give us an example of a challenging case, your approach, and the outcome.
  • How do you respond when a client is in crisis?
  • What are you most excited about learning and developing in your career?
  • Describe a time you faced an ethical dilemma in your practice. How did you handle it?

Look for the candidate’s ability to describe specific instances — and the relevance of those instances — as they answer your questions. A strong candidate should be able to share specific anecdotes (without divulging a client’s identifying information), the actions they took, and the result of those actions. Listen also for what the candidate learned from the experience they described to you.

Making the hiring decision

At this point, you will have gathered a significant amount of information on the candidate that can be analytically evaluated ‌as data points. Their resume, cover letter, phone screen, interviews, question responses, and feedback from other interviewers on the team all need to be considered. You’ll need to determine the weight of importance for each factor such as experience, cultural fit with the practice, and potential for growth. What aligns with what you need the most for your practice? 

It’s also important to give weight to your feelings about the candidate. How did the candidate make you feel when you were with them? What does your instinct tell you about their fit with your practice and your team’s ability to work well with them? This should be balanced with the analytical data to make a wise decision.

If necessary, you can consult with trusted peers who own their own practice. Getting outside feedback can help to bring more clarity and‌ illuminate some things you may have missed. 

Checking credentials and references effectively 

Your final step toward hiring will be checks and verifications. You will want to run a background check and speak to two to three professional references. Here are a few key questions to consider asking a candidate’s references:

  • How long and in what capacity have you known the candidate?
  • Please describe their clinical skills and approach.
  • How did you see them working with a team and handling difficult situations?

There are a few key documents that you'll want to verify, including:

  • Diplomas and certifications to verify with their university (you may also optionally request transcripts)
  • State licensure to verify with state licensing board
  • Liability insurance policy

How Headway can support your group practice

Managing and expanding a group therapy practice requires streamlined operations and the ability to attract dedicated, qualified therapists. Headway’s all-in-one platform helps practice owners simplify the complexities of credentialing, insurance billing, and marketing, so you can focus on care and team-building instead of paperwork headaches. Discover ways that Headway is built for groups and see how Headway can transform your management experience, helping your practice flourish in a competitive market.

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This content is for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute clinical, legal, financial, or professional advice. All decisions should be made at the discretion of the individual or organization, in consultation with qualified clinical, legal, or other appropriate professionals.

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Starting a practice