Counseling psychologist job description templates for private practices and small agencies: 6 role variants with pay, licensure, and FLSA notes. Free DOCX.
6 free templates for the practices and agencies that hire without an HR department: outpatient, small group, career and vocational, community agency, postdoctoral, and telehealth. Download as DOCX.
A practice owner asked me last hiring season why every counseling psychologist posting she could find read like a hospital job. The answer is that they were written for hospitals. They assume a department, a training director, an interdisciplinary team, a credentialing office, and a posted salary band, none of which exist in a two-clinician practice.
The demand is real and growing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of clinical and counseling psychologists to grow much faster than average, by 7 percent or more, from 2024 to 2034. Most of that hiring happens in small outpatient practices, community agencies, and career and employee assistance programs, which is exactly where nobody has written a usable posting.
At FirstHR we build hiring templates for that reader. The six below cover a standard outpatient role, a solo or small group practice, career and vocational work, a community agency, a postdoctoral training appointment, and a telehealth or part-time caseload, each with the licensure and classification notes the generic versions leave out.
TL;DR
A counseling psychologist is a doctoral-level licensed psychologist focused on life adjustment, career and vocational development, and prevention. No state issues a separate counseling psychologist license. Clinical and counseling psychologists earned a median of $100,580 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Six templates below, downloadable as DOCX.
Counseling Psychology Is Its Own Specialty, Not a Separate License
Counseling psychology and clinical psychology are distinct training traditions that lead to the same credential. Both require a doctorate, an internship, supervised postdoctoral hours, and the same licensing examination, and every state issues one generic license to practice psychology rather than a specialty-specific one.
What separates them is emphasis. Counseling psychology is built around normal developmental issues, life adjustment, career and vocational development, wellness, prevention, and multicultural practice. Clinical psychology goes deeper on psychopathology, severe mental illness, and psychological testing. In outpatient work the overlap is large, and many roles could be filled by either.
Solo or small group practice
You are the whole HR function
The owner writes the posting between sessions. There is no recruiter, no credentialing coordinator, and no benefits administrator, so the job description has to carry the pay structure, the caseload, and the classification decision on its own.
Community agency or nonprofit
Funders set the rules
Grant and contract conditions can dictate credentials, caseload, and reporting. Supervision of pre-licensed staff is usually part of the job, and it has to be paid, scheduled, and documented rather than absorbed.
Career, EAP, or vocational services
The forgotten half of the field
Career and vocational work is core counseling psychology, and almost no posting template covers it. When an employer pays and an individual receives, the confidentiality boundary has to be written down before the first session.
University center or health system
Out of scope here
Large institutions hire through a central HR office with a posted salary band and a credentialing department. If that is you, most of this is already decided. These templates target the small employer side of the field.
Role
Minimum degree
Credential
Typical emphasis
Counseling psychologist
Doctorate (PhD, PsyD, or EdD)
Generic state psychologist license
Life adjustment, career and vocational development, wellness, prevention
Clinical psychologist
Doctorate (PhD or PsyD)
Generic state psychologist license
Psychopathology, severe mental illness, psychological testing
School psychologist
Specialist degree or doctorate
School psychologist credential or psychologist license
Educational assessment and behavior support in a school setting
Licensed professional counselor
Master’s degree
State counselor license
Outpatient counseling, usually without psychological testing
Marriage and family therapist
Master’s degree
State MFT license
Couples, families, and relational systems
That last distinction drives your budget more than any other. If the caseload does not require psychological testing or the doctoral scope, a master’s-level clinician may be the better hire, and our mental health counselor templates cover that path. Where the doctorate is the point, the clinical psychologist templates sit alongside these.
Do Not Ask for a License That Does Not Exist
The single most common error in first-time postings for this role is a requirement reading "must hold a counseling psychologist license." No board issues one. Credentialed candidates read it as a signal that you have not hired for this role before, and some will skip the posting entirely. Write "current, unrestricted license to practice psychology in [State]" instead, then describe the counseling specialty through the duties: career and vocational assessment, developmental and adjustment work, prevention programming, or whatever your caseload actually is.
What Belongs in the Posting
A counseling psychologist job description does four jobs at once: it describes the practice, it filters candidates whose training does not fit the caseload, it protects you on classification and credentialing, and it closes the hire. Most postings do only the first.
The parts candidates read first
Setting and population, in two sentences
Caseload in client hours per week
Modalities and assessment scope
In-person, hybrid, or fully remote
The parts that filter applicants
Doctorate and license, marked required or license-eligible
States you need the candidate licensed in
Payer credentialing expectation
Supervision duties, if any
The parts that protect you
FLSA classification stated on the posting
W-2 or genuine contractor, stated honestly
Background check and registry notice
Equal opportunity statement
The parts that win the hire
Salary or a good-faith range
Paid documentation and consultation time
Malpractice coverage and CE budget
A named person and a real decision timeline
The omission that costs small practices the most is the caseload number. Candidates at this level want to know direct client contact hours per week, whether documentation time is paid, and who covers crisis calls after hours. Leaving those blank reads as a practice that has not decided. Our guide to writing a job description covers the general structure, and the full hiring template library holds the adjacent roles.
6 Counseling Psychologist Job Description Templates to Download
Download all six as one file or copy them individually. Each follows the same structure: practice overview, position summary, key responsibilities, required qualifications, a classification and compliance note, an equal opportunity statement, and how to apply. The bracketed fields are the only parts you need to change.
Download All 6 Counseling Psychologist Job Description Templates
Standard outpatient, solo or small group practice, career and vocational, community agency, postdoctoral fellow, and telehealth. All in one download.
Standard Counseling Psychologist
Outpatient, full-time, W-2
The general licensed role, with caseload, assessment scope, documentation turnaround, and the exempt classification stated up front.
Solo or Small Group Practice
Owner-operated
For a practice with no HR or billing department, with credentialing duties, shared administration, and the fee-split classification trap called out.
Career and Vocational
EAP, outplacement, rehab
For career counseling and employer-sponsored work, with vocational assessment, written reports, and the confidentiality boundary spelled out.
Community Agency or Nonprofit
Mixed caseload, funded work
For agency hiring, with supervision duties, funder reporting, and the state rules on who may supervise pre-licensed clinicians.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Pre-licensure, supervised
For a supervised training appointment, with the protected-title warning, the registration requirement, and the non-exempt default.
Telehealth or Part-Time
Video, multi-state
For remote caseloads, with location verification, emergency planning, interjurisdictional practice authority, and hourly classification.
Template 1: Standard Counseling Psychologist
The general licensed outpatient role, with caseload, assessment scope, documentation turnaround, and the exempt classification stated up front.
FLSA status: Exempt (learned professional; see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per year
ABOUT [PRACTICE NAME]
[Practice Name] is a [solo / small group] outpatient practice in [City, State]
serving [adults / adolescents / couples / college-age clients]. Our work is
oriented toward life adjustment, career and vocational development, and
prevention rather than long-term inpatient care. We are hiring a licensed
counseling psychologist to carry a caseload of [number] client hours a week.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Counseling Psychologist provides individual, couples, and group counseling,
conducts intake and psychological assessment within their scope of practice,
develops and documents treatment plans, and coordinates care with outside
providers.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Carry a caseload of [number] direct client contact hours per week
•Conduct intakes, risk assessments, and diagnostic interviews
•Administer and interpret [personality / career / cognitive] instruments within
your training and scope
•Build and document collaborative treatment plans with measurable goals
•Write progress notes in [EHR name] within [number] business hours of session
•Coordinate with primary care, psychiatry, and outside providers with consent
•Follow crisis, mandated-reporter, and duty-to-warn procedures
•Take part in weekly case consultation and [number] hours of peer review
•Maintain licensure in good standing and complete required continuing education
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Doctorate (PhD, PsyD, or EdD) in counseling psychology or a closely related
field from an accredited program
•Current, unrestricted license to practice psychology in [State]
•[Number] years of post-licensure outpatient experience preferred
•Experience with [population] and with [modality: CBT, ACT, IPT, EFT]
•Able to be credentialed with our contracted payers
•Must clear a criminal background check and any state registry checks
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE (read before posting)
A licensed psychologist normally qualifies for the FLSA learned professional
exemption, but unlike licensed physicians and lawyers, a psychologist is not
excused from the salary tests. To classify this role exempt you must pay at
least the federal weekly salary threshold on a salary basis and meet any higher
state threshold. Fee-split and per-session arrangements often fail that test.
If the role is paid per session or per client hour, treat it as non-exempt and
track hours. Do not label a staff psychologist an independent contractor when
you set the schedule, the rate, the location, and the documentation standard.
This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Practice Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [benefits summary], [CE stipend], [license
renewal reimbursement], [malpractice coverage]
To apply, email __ with your resume and license number.
Template 2: Solo or Small Group Practice
For an owner-operated practice with no HR or billing department, with credentialing duties, shared administration, and the fee-split classification trap called out plainly.
Counseling Psychologist Job Description (Solo or Small Group Practice)
COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGIST JOB DESCRIPTION (SOLO OR SMALL GROUP PRACTICE)
Practice: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Owner / Managing Psychologist]
Employment type: Full-time or part-time, W-2 employee
FLSA status: Depends on pay structure (see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per year, or $_ per client hour
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Practice Name] is an owner-operated practice with [number] clinicians and no
separate HR or billing department. You will join a small team where the
administrative load is shared, the referral stream is [source], and decisions
get made in a week rather than a quarter.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Counseling Psychologist sees a defined caseload, keeps documentation current
enough to bill cleanly, participates in the practice's referral and intake
process, and helps hold the standards a small practice depends on.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•See [number] client hours per week across [in-person / telehealth]
•Complete intake paperwork, informed consent, and practice policies with each
new client
•Document to the standard our contracted payers require, on time
•Respond to referral inquiries within [number] business hours
•Maintain your own calendar and manage cancellations under our policy
•Participate in [monthly] practice meetings and clinical consultation
•Keep credentialing, CAQH, and license renewals current
•Follow crisis, mandated-reporter, and duty-to-warn procedures
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Doctorate in counseling or clinical psychology from an accredited program
Template 3: Career and Vocational Counseling Psychologist
For career counseling, employee assistance, outplacement, and vocational rehabilitation work, with assessment, written reports, and the employer-versus-individual confidentiality boundary spelled out.
Career and Vocational Counseling Psychologist Job Description
CAREER AND VOCATIONAL COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGIST JOB DESCRIPTION
Organization: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Program Director / Owner]
Employment type: Full-time, W-2 employee
FLSA status: Exempt (learned professional; see classification note)
•Track outcomes against program metrics: [placement, retention, satisfaction]
•Maintain confidentiality boundaries between the individual and the employer
client, and state those boundaries to every participant up front
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Doctorate in counseling psychology or a closely related field
•Current [State] psychologist license, or license-eligible within [number]
months
•Training in vocational and career assessment
•Experience with [population: veterans, career changers, injured workers,
early-career professionals]
•Clear written English for reports read by non-clinicians
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Two issues are specific to career and employer-sponsored work. First, when an
employer pays for the service and the individual receives it, the confidentiality
line has to be written down and explained before the first session, because the
person in the room and the person paying the invoice are not the same. Second,
if the program touches health information and you bill electronically for covered
transactions, HIPAA obligations attach to the records regardless of how informal
the setting feels. Vocational rehabilitation contracts may also carry their own
records, reporting, and conflict of interest requirements. Confirm scope of
practice for assessment instruments with your state psychology board. This is
general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Organization Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [benefits summary], [travel policy]
To apply, email __ with your resume and a writing sample.
Template 4: Community Agency or Nonprofit
For agency hiring, with supervision of pre-licensed staff, funder reporting, and the state rules that govern who may supervise. Pair it with the social worker templates if you staff a mixed clinical team.
Counseling Psychologist Job Description (Community Agency or Nonprofit)
COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGIST JOB DESCRIPTION (COMMUNITY AGENCY OR NONPROFIT)
Organization: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Clinical Director]
Employment type: Full-time, W-2 employee
FLSA status: Exempt (learned professional; see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per year
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Organization Name] is a [community mental health center / nonprofit agency]
serving [population] in [City, State], funded by [grants, contracts, sliding
scale fees, Medicaid]. Caseloads here are mixed, the paperwork is real, and the
work is grounded in the community rather than in a private office.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Counseling Psychologist provides counseling and assessment services to
agency clients, supervises or consults with [master's-level staff / trainees],
and meets the documentation and reporting standards our funders require.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Provide individual, family, and group counseling to [number] clients
•Conduct psychological assessment within scope for [intake / eligibility /
treatment planning]
•Provide clinical supervision or consultation to [number] staff or trainees
•Complete grant, contract, and payer documentation on the required cycle
•Participate in interdisciplinary treatment team meetings
•Support [outreach, prevention programming, community education]
•Follow crisis, mandated-reporter, and duty-to-warn procedures
•Contribute to program evaluation and outcomes reporting
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Doctorate in counseling or clinical psychology from an accredited program
•Current [State] psychologist license
•[Approved supervisor status required / preferred] under state rules
•Experience with [population] and with [culturally responsive practice,
interpreters, trauma-informed care]
•Must clear a criminal background check and [state registry] checks
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Supervision is the part agencies underestimate. If this role will supervise
pre-licensed clinicians toward their own licensure, your state board almost
certainly sets requirements for who may supervise, how many supervisees one
person may carry, the ratio of individual to group hours, and what has to be
documented and signed. Build that time into the caseload rather than treating it
as unpaid overflow, because a supervisor with no room in the calendar is how
supervision agreements quietly fail. Grant and contract funding can also carry
its own staffing, credential, and reporting conditions that sit above state law.
This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Organization Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [benefits summary], [loan repayment program
eligibility], [CE budget]
To apply, email __ with your resume and license number.
Template 5: Postdoctoral Fellow or Psychology Resident
For a supervised pre-licensure appointment, with the protected-title warning, the board registration requirement, and the non-exempt default stated honestly.
•Registered with the [State] board under the correct pre-licensure title where
your state requires registration
•Commitment to the full [12-month] appointment
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Get three things right before this person sees a client. First, the title:
states use different terms for pre-licensure practice (psychology resident,
psychological associate, postdoctoral fellow), some require registration with
the board before any client contact, and using the protected title
"psychologist" too early is a board complaint waiting to happen. Second,
classification: a trainee is an employee, not a contractor, and a stipend below
the federal weekly salary threshold means the role is non-exempt, so track hours
and pay overtime past forty in a week. Third, supervision: your supervising
psychologist carries professional responsibility for this work, so protect that
supervision time in the calendar and document every hour. Confirm your state's
rules with the psychology board before posting. This is general information, not
legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Practice Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [benefits], [exam fee support], [CE budget]
To apply, email __ with your CV and two references.
Template 6: Telehealth or Part-Time Counseling Psychologist
For remote and part-time caseloads, with session-start location verification, emergency planning, interjurisdictional practice authority, and hourly classification.
Telehealth or Part-Time Counseling Psychologist Job Description
TELEHEALTH OR PART-TIME COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGIST JOB DESCRIPTION
Practice: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Clinical Director / Owner]
Employment type: Part-time, [number] hours per week, W-2 employee
FLSA status: Non-exempt unless the salary tests are met (see note)
Compensation: $_ per [hour / client hour]
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Practice Name] delivers counseling services by video to clients located in
[state list]. This is a part-time role with a fixed weekly schedule, built for a
psychologist who wants a defined caseload rather than a full-time appointment.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Telehealth Counseling Psychologist delivers counseling sessions by video on
a set schedule, documents in our platform, and follows the location, licensure,
and emergency protocols that remote practice requires.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Deliver [number] video sessions per week on the agreed schedule
•Verify and record the client's physical location at the start of every session
•Maintain an emergency plan and local resources for each client's location
•Document in [platform] within [number] business hours of each session
•Use only practice-approved, secure video and messaging tools
•Attend [monthly] remote case consultation
•Keep licensure current in every state where you see clients, and keep any
interjurisdictional authority current
•Follow crisis, mandated-reporter, and duty-to-warn procedures for the client's
jurisdiction, not yours
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Doctorate in counseling or clinical psychology
•Current [State] psychologist license; additional state licenses or
interjurisdictional practice authority [required / preferred]
•Prior telehealth experience and a private, secure workspace
•Reliable connectivity and comfort with [platform]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Telepsychology is regulated by the state where the client sits, not where the
psychologist sits. That single rule drives everything else: session-start
location checks, an emergency plan tied to the client's address, and licensure
or interjurisdictional authority covering every state on your roster. The
Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact exists precisely to make multi-state
telepsychology practical without collecting a license in every state, but it
covers only participating jurisdictions and requires its own credential, so
check the current map before you promise a candidate anything. On pay, a
part-time or per-session psychologist is usually non-exempt: track hours, pay
overtime past forty in a week, and pay for required documentation time. This is
general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Practice Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per [hour / client hour], [paid documentation time],
[malpractice coverage], [equipment stipend]
To apply, email __ with your resume and license numbers.
Licensure, Supervision, and Remote Practice
Licensure for this role is a generic psychologist license, issued by a state board after a doctorate, supervised hours, and a national examination. The specialty is not on the license, so your posting has to carry it in the duties instead.
Two adjacent rules catch small employers. Pre-licensure staff practice under a separate state-specific title and often must register with the board before any client contact. And remote practice is governed by the state where the client sits, not where the clinician sits.
No state licenses a “counseling psychologist”
This surprises employers writing their first posting. State boards issue one generic license to practice psychology. The specialty lives in the doctoral program, the internship, and the postdoctoral training, not in the license itself, which means a counseling psychology graduate and a clinical psychology graduate sit for the same examination and hold the same credential. The practical consequences are direct. Do not write “must hold a counseling psychologist license,” because no such document exists and credentialed candidates will read it as a sign you have not hired for this role before. Write “current, unrestricted license to practice psychology in [State],” then describe the specialty in the duties: career and vocational assessment, life adjustment and developmental work, prevention programming, or whatever your caseload actually is. Verify the license number on your board’s public lookup before the offer, not after. This is general information, not legal advice.
Psychologists do not get the physician and lawyer carve-out
The FLSA learned professional exemption covers work requiring advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning, customarily acquired through prolonged specialized instruction, which a licensed psychologist plainly satisfies on duties. The trap is on the pay side. Federal rules waive the salary level and salary basis requirements for licensed physicians and lawyers, and separately for teachers, but psychologists are not on that list. To classify a psychologist exempt you must actually pay a guaranteed weekly salary at or above the federal threshold of $684 a week, which is $35,568 a year, and above any higher state threshold. A pure fee-split, a per-session rate, or a productivity-only arrangement generally does not satisfy the salary basis test, which makes the role non-exempt: track hours and pay overtime past forty in a week. Get this decided before you post, because the posting states it. This is general information, not legal advice.
Telepsychology follows the client, not the clinician
The governing rule for remote counseling is that practice occurs where the client is physically located at the time of the session. A psychologist sitting in one state and seeing a client in another is practicing in the client’s state and needs authority there. That drives three concrete posting requirements: name every state your caseload covers, require the candidate to hold or obtain authority in each, and state that session-start location verification and a local emergency plan are part of the job. The Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact was built to solve exactly this, granting telepsychology authority across participating jurisdictions through a single additional credential rather than a separate license in every state. More than forty states and jurisdictions have enacted it, but participation and effective dates differ, so check the current map before promising a candidate anything in an offer letter. This is general information, not legal advice.
Records, credentialing, and the paperwork before day one
A counseling psychologist generates protected health information from the first intake, so if your practice bills electronically for covered transactions the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules apply to you regardless of how small you are, and psychotherapy notes carry additional restrictions of their own. Hiring adds a second track that new practice owners routinely underestimate: payer credentialing runs on the payers’ timeline, not yours, and can take months, which means a clinician can be fully licensed, fully onboarded, and still unable to bill your largest contract. Start credentialing at offer acceptance, not at the start date. Alongside it, run license verification against the board’s public lookup, the criminal background check and any state registry checks your setting requires, malpractice coverage or confirmation of the candidate’s own policy, and a signed acknowledgment of your privacy, crisis, and mandated-reporter procedures. This is general information, not legal advice.
For multi-state telehealth caseloads, the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact is the mechanism that makes it practical, granting telepsychology authority across participating jurisdictions through one additional credential rather than a license in every state. Check the current participation map before you write a state list into an offer.
Requirement
How to handle it in the posting
Doctorate
State the field and that it must be from an accredited program; do not require a specific degree title
License
Ask for a current, unrestricted license to practice psychology in each state on the caseload
Pre-licensure roles
Use your state’s protected title (psychology resident, psychological associate) and state the registration requirement
Supervision duties
If the role supervises pre-licensed clinicians, say so and confirm your board’s approved-supervisor rules
Multi-state telehealth
List every state in the caseload and state whether compact authority is required or preferred
Payer credentialing
State that the hire must be credentialable with your contracted payers, and start the process at offer acceptance
Background check
Always required; state that clearance must be complete before the first client contact
Classification
State exempt or non-exempt on the posting, and make the pay structure consistent with it
Exempt, Non-Exempt, W-2, or Contractor
A licensed psychologist meets the FLSA learned professional duties test, but does not get the salary-test waiver that licensed physicians and lawyers receive. That means exemption depends on how you structure the pay, not only on the credential.
The learned professional regulation covers work requiring advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning, customarily acquired through prolonged specialized instruction. Psychology sits squarely inside it. But to claim the exemption you still have to pay a guaranteed weekly salary of at least $684, which is $35,568 a year, on a salary basis, plus any higher state threshold. Our breakdown of exempt versus non-exempt classification works through the tests in detail.
Fee-Splits Usually Break the Exemption
A per-session or percentage-of-collections arrangement is common in small practices and rarely satisfies the salary basis test, because the clinician has no guaranteed weekly amount. A psychologist paid that way is generally non-exempt: you must track hours, pay overtime past forty in a week, and pay for required documentation, consultation, and training time. That is manageable, but only if you decide it before you post rather than after a candidate asks. The other half of the same mistake is labelling the arrangement 1099 to avoid the question entirely, which converts a wage-and-hour problem into a misclassification problem.
Contractor status turns on control, not on the title of the agreement. A practice that sets the schedule, the rate, the location, the electronic health record, and the documentation standard is directing an employee. Our comparison of 1099 and W-2 classification covers the tests and the penalties for getting it wrong.
What to Pay a Counseling Psychologist
The honest starting point is that federal wage data does not break out counseling psychologists separately. The Bureau of Labor Statistics combines them with clinical psychologists in a single occupation, code 19-3033, so the published median is a blended figure covering both specialties across every setting.
The Federal Wage Ladder for This Occupation
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), clinical and counseling psychologists earned a national median of $100,580 a year, or $48.36 an hour. The 10th percentile earned $55,170, the 25th percentile $73,210, the 75th percentile $135,200, and the 90th percentile $180,960 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, psychologists).
That spread is wide because the occupation covers everything from an early-career agency clinician to a senior assessment specialist in a hospital system. Benchmark to your setting rather than to the national median, and use the nearest classifications to sanity-check the number you land on.
Occupation (BLS code)
National median (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
What it tells a small employer
Clinical and counseling psychologists (19-3033)
$100,580 per year
The only federal category containing counseling psychologists; your primary anchor
Psychologists, all other (19-3039)
$110,840 per year
Government and specialized settings; skews above outpatient practice
School psychologists (19-3034)
$95,990 per year
Your competition when hiring someone leaving a school district
Marriage and family therapists (21-1013)
$66,940 per year
Master’s-level comparison for a similar outpatient caseload
Educational, guidance, and career counselors (21-1012)
$64,330 per year
Relevant when the role is primarily career and vocational work
Mental health counselors (21-1014)
$59,350 per year
What the same caseload costs when a doctorate is not required
Rehabilitation counselors (21-1015)
$46,850 per year
Adjacent role in vocational rehabilitation programs
Publish a good-faith range where pay transparency laws apply. Where you cannot match a hospital band, compete on the things a small practice genuinely controls: caseload size, paid documentation time, a real continuing education budget, malpractice coverage, schedule autonomy, and a hiring decision made in a week instead of a quarter.
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Screening and Credentialing Language Every Posting Needs
Three sentences belong in every counseling psychologist posting: one stating that employment is contingent on license verification and a criminal background check, one stating the FLSA classification, and one stating that the hire must be credentialable with your contracted payers.
The third is the one small practices forget, and it is the one that delays revenue. Payer credentialing runs on the payers’ schedule and routinely takes months, so a clinician can be licensed, onboarded, and still unable to bill your largest contract. Start it at offer acceptance. Our guide to running a background check covers the notice requirements on the screening side.
Records obligations attach from the first intake. If your practice transmits health information electronically in connection with covered transactions, the HIPAA Privacy Rule applies to you at any size, and psychotherapy notes carry additional restrictions. Set the expectation in the posting and confirm it during onboarding with a signed acknowledgment, using your written privacy policies and procedures as the reference.
Hiring a Counseling Psychologist Without an HR Department
Hiring at this level fails in three predictable places for small employers: the posting is borrowed from an institution, the pay structure and the classification decision get made separately, and the credentialing and onboarding paperwork all arrives at once. Each has a fix.
Every posting you can find was written for a hospital or a university
Search the role and you get postings built around a department, a training program, an interdisciplinary team, and a posted salary band. None of that describes a two-clinician practice or a nonprofit with one psychologist and four master’s-level counselors. Copying those postings costs you twice: strong candidates cannot tell what your caseload actually looks like, and the parts a small employer has to decide for itself (pay structure, classification, documentation expectations, who covers crisis calls) simply go missing, because in a large institution somebody else already decided them. Write the posting around the day: hours of direct client contact, the population, the modalities, the documentation turnaround, and who the candidate calls at seven in the evening when something goes wrong.
The pay structure and the classification decision are the same decision
Small practices tend to design compensation first and think about employment law second, which is backwards. A fee-split or per-client-hour arrangement is attractive to an owner because it moves risk onto the clinician, but it usually fails the salary basis test, and a psychologist who fails that test is non-exempt: hours tracked, overtime past forty. A guaranteed salary at or above the federal threshold keeps the exemption available and makes the posting simple to write. Whichever you pick, decide before you publish, because candidates at this level read the pay structure as a signal of how the practice is run, and switching the answer during the offer stage costs you the hire.
The license, the credentialing, and the onboarding paperwork all land at once
A new psychologist arrives with a stack that has to be collected, verified, and then watched for expiry: license verification and renewal date, malpractice certificate, payer credentialing and CAQH attestation, background check clearance, continuing education records, HIPAA and privacy acknowledgment, crisis and mandated-reporter sign-off, plus every standard new-hire form. In a small practice that stack lives in an inbox and a folder, and the renewal dates live in somebody’s head. FirstHR was built for this. The onboarding wizard runs the same sequence for every clinician, built-in e-signature handles the policy acknowledgments and the employment agreement, document management stores licenses and certificates against each employee profile with renewal dates attached, and training modules cover privacy and crisis orientation before the first client. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR. Note that FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a payroll provider.
Once the agreement is signed, the work becomes a repeatable onboarding checklist: employment agreement, privacy and crisis acknowledgments, license and malpractice verification with renewal dates, continuing education records, and credentialing status tracked to completion.
Key Takeaways
Counseling psychology and clinical psychology are distinct training traditions that lead to the same generic state license, so describe the specialty through the duties rather than asking for a license that does not exist.
Pre-licensure staff practice under a separate state-specific title such as psychology resident or psychological associate, and several states require board registration before any client contact.
A licensed psychologist meets the FLSA learned professional duties test but gets no salary-test waiver, so exemption requires a guaranteed weekly salary of at least $684, which is $35,568 a year, plus any higher state threshold.
Fee-split and per-session arrangements generally fail the salary basis test, which makes the role non-exempt and puts hours tracking, overtime, and paid documentation time back on the employer.
Clinical and counseling psychologists earned a national median of $100,580 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), and the Bureau does not publish a separate counseling psychologist figure, so treat it as a blended anchor.
Telepsychology is regulated by the state where the client is located, and payer credentialing runs on the payers’ timeline, so start both before the start date rather than after it.
Clinical hires arrive with credentials that expire. FirstHR runs the same onboarding sequence for every clinician, with e-signature for agreements and privacy acknowledgments, document storage for licenses, malpractice certificates, and continuing education records, and renewal dates tracked so nothing lapses quietly. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a counseling psychologist do?
A counseling psychologist is a doctoral-level, licensed psychologist whose work centers on life adjustment, developmental transitions, career and vocational development, wellness, and prevention, delivered to people across the lifespan. Day to day that means intakes and risk assessment, individual, couples, and group counseling, psychological and vocational assessment within their training and scope, treatment planning, documentation, and coordination with primary care and psychiatry. Many also supervise pre-licensed clinicians and run prevention or education programming. The distinguishing emphasis is person and environment fit: how someone’s work, relationships, culture, and circumstances interact with their psychological functioning, rather than psychopathology alone. In a small practice the role usually also carries payer credentialing, referral response, and a share of the administrative load, which belongs in the job description rather than as a surprise in week two.
What is the difference between a counseling psychologist and a clinical psychologist?
The difference is training emphasis, not credential. Both hold a doctorate, complete an internship and supervised postdoctoral hours, sit for the same licensing examination, and receive the same generic state license to practice psychology. Counseling psychology programs emphasize normal developmental issues, life adjustment, career and vocational development, wellness, prevention, and multicultural practice. Clinical psychology programs emphasize psychopathology, severe and persistent mental illness, and psychological testing in greater depth. In practice the two overlap heavily, and many outpatient jobs could be filled by either. The federal statistical system treats them as one occupation: the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports clinical and counseling psychologists together under a single code. For an employer, the useful question is not which degree title the candidate holds but whether their internship, postdoctoral training, and supervised experience match the caseload you are hiring for.
How much does a counseling psychologist make?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), clinical and counseling psychologists earned a national median of $100,580 a year, which is about $48.36 an hour. The distribution is wide: $55,170 at the 10th percentile, $73,210 at the 25th, $135,200 at the 75th, and $180,960 at the 90th. Note that the Bureau does not publish a separate figure for counseling psychologists, because it combines them with clinical psychologists in one occupation code, so treat the median as a blended anchor rather than a precise benchmark. Nearby classifications give useful context: school psychologists at $95,990, marriage and family therapists at $66,940, and mental health counselors at $59,350. For a small practice, benchmark to comparable outpatient settings in your metro area and publish a good-faith range where pay transparency rules require one.
Is a counseling psychologist exempt from overtime?
Usually yes on duties, but only if the pay structure cooperates. A licensed psychologist satisfies the FLSA learned professional test on duties, because the work requires advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning acquired through prolonged specialized instruction. The complication is that federal rules waive the salary requirements only for licensed physicians, lawyers, and teachers, and psychologists are not in that group. To treat the role as exempt you must pay a guaranteed weekly salary at or above the federal threshold of $684 a week, equivalent to $35,568 a year, and meet any higher state threshold. A pure fee-split, a per-session rate, or a productivity-only arrangement generally does not satisfy the salary basis test, which makes the role non-exempt: track hours and pay overtime past forty in a week. Decide before you post, because the posting has to state it. This is general information, not legal advice.
Do I need a separate counseling psychologist license?
No. State boards issue one generic license to practice psychology, and no state issues a license specifically titled counseling psychologist. The specialty is established through the doctoral program, the internship, and the postdoctoral training rather than through the credential, which is why counseling and clinical psychology graduates sit for the same examination and hold the same license. Write your posting as “current, unrestricted license to practice psychology in [State]” and describe the specialty through the duties instead. Two related points matter for hiring. Pre-licensure staff practice under a different, state-specific title such as psychology resident or psychological associate, and several states require registration with the board before any client contact. Using the protected title psychologist too early is a common and avoidable board complaint. Verify any license number on your board’s public lookup before the offer goes out.
Can a counseling psychologist see clients in another state by video?
Only with authority in the state where the client is physically located during the session, because telepsychology is regulated by the client’s location rather than the clinician’s. That means either a full license in each state on your roster or authority under the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact, which grants telepsychology practice across participating jurisdictions through a single additional credential instead of a separate license everywhere. More than forty states and jurisdictions have enacted the compact, but participation and effective dates differ, so check the current map before you make a promise in an offer letter. Whatever route you take, three operational requirements follow: verify and record the client’s physical location at the start of every session, keep an emergency plan tied to that location, and apply the crisis and mandated-reporter rules of the client’s jurisdiction rather than your own. Build all three into the job description.
Can I hire a counseling psychologist as a 1099 contractor?
Rarely, and it is one of the most expensive mistakes small practices make. The test is control, not paperwork. If you set the schedule, the session rate, the location, the electronic health record, the documentation standard, the cancellation policy, and the payer contracts the clinician bills under, you are directing an employee, and the IRS and your state labor agency will read the arrangement that way no matter what the agreement is titled. The consequences of getting it wrong include back payroll taxes, unpaid overtime, penalties, and state-level exposure that is often harsher than the federal version. A genuine contractor relationship exists where a psychologist runs an independent practice, sets their own rates and hours, uses their own systems, carries their own malpractice coverage, and serves other clients. If that does not describe your arrangement, hire a W-2 employee and classify the exemption honestly.
How do I hire a counseling psychologist for a small practice with no HR department?
Run a fixed sequence and start the slow parts early. Decide the pay structure and the FLSA classification before you write a word, because both belong in the posting. Publish a specific job description with the caseload in client hours, the population, the modalities, the states you need licensure in, and the pay or a good-faith range. Screen for fit between the candidate’s internship and postdoctoral training and your actual caseload, not for the label on the degree. Verify the license on your board’s public lookup, run the background check and any registry checks, and start payer credentialing at offer acceptance rather than at the start date, because credentialing runs on the payers’ timeline and can take months. Then onboard as a checklist: employment agreement, privacy and crisis acknowledgments, malpractice confirmation, continuing education records, and every credential logged with its renewal date. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
