MCCANCE METHOD HIRING GUIDE
How to Hire Therapists for Your Group Practice
Build your dream team
Hire the right people, build the right culture, and scale with confidence.
Hiring is where everything changes for your group practice.
I can tell you this with full confidence: hiring is the moment your practice stops being a job and starts becoming a real business. It’s also the part that scares people the most. If that’s you right now, I get it. I’ve been there. And I want to walk you through exactly how I approach hiring inside the Clinic Growth Map™ so you can do it with way less stress and way more clarity.
Hiring doesn’t have to feel overwhelming or confusing. When it’s done with the right systems, the right strategy, and the right support, it’s actually one of the most exciting milestones you’ll hit as a practice owner. Whether you’re about to bring on your very first therapist or you already have a small team and you’re ready to grow,
the path forward is clearer than you think.
Group Practice Hiring
Build your systems before you hire
This is probably the most important thing I’ll say on this entire page: do not hire before you systemize. I know, I know. You have a waitlist. You’re turning people away. You want to bring someone on yesterday. But here’s what happens when you skip systemization and jump straight into hiring. Every single question that new therapist has lands on your desk. Instead of stepping into your role as CEO, you become the CQA, the chief question answerer.
Inside the Clinic Growth Map™ , the very first step of my 5-Step Scaling Method is systemization. That means getting everything out of your head and into a manual:
- Your cancellation and no-show policies
- How you respond to new client inquiries
- Your onboarding steps for new hires
- Tech platform logins and workflows
- Standard operating procedures for day-to-day tasks
When it’s all documented, your new hire has a guide to follow. They feel supported. They feel confident. And you? You get to breathe.
I give my members lifetime access to every workflow, manual, employee handbook, compensation framework, and onboarding checklist I used to build my own practice. You don’t have to create any of this from scratch. It’s all done for you and ready to be customized to your unique practice, market, and goals.
Your First Hire Should Be a "Mini Me"
When it’s time for your very first therapist hire, I always recommend what I call a “mini me.” This is a therapist who has a similar personality, similar energy, and a similar clinical modality to yours. Why? Because your first hire is almost always going to take over some of your existing clients. Those clients chose you for a reason. They connected with your style. So when you move them to someone new, you want that transition to feel as natural and seamless as possible.
Now, this doesn’t mean there’s one perfect formula for everyone. Your ideal first hire depends on your caseload, your clients, your market, and the culture you’re building. That’s exactly what we work through together inside the Clinic Growth Map™ .
Once your mini me is in place, congratulations. You are officially a CEO. I’m so proud of you. Now it’s time to increase your rate (you’re the clinical director now, after all), remove yourself from the free consult rotation, and start working on your business instead of only in it.
Who Should You Hire Next?
After your mini me, here’s where it gets really exciting. I always tell my members: let your data lead the way. Track your inquiries. What are people asking for? What services are you referring out? That information tells you exactly who your next therapist hire should be.
Here are three data-driven ways to decide:
- Track your inquiries. Have your admin document what people are asking for. Teen therapy? ADHD support? Family counseling? The data tells you what the market needs.
- Check keyword search volume. Free tools can show you what people in your area are actually searching for online.
- Track when you're referring out. Every service you're referring out is revenue walking out the door.
If you don’t have data yet, here’s what I’ve seen work incredibly well across hundreds of practices: hire a couples therapist. A couples therapist sees multiple populations (individuals and couples), which means they can build a full caseload faster. But here’s my favorite part. One couple often turns into three or four clients. The couple comes in together, then each partner starts individual therapy, and sometimes their child comes in too. That one inquiry just became a whole family in your practice.
And if couples or family therapy isn’t something you can supervise, that’s totally fine. Just hire someone who is fully licensed. You don’t have to be an expert in every modality your practice offers. That’s the whole point of scaling.
Who Should You Hire Next?
Don’t wait until your current team is completely full to start looking. I recommend posting your job listing when your therapists are about 60 to 70 percent full. The interview process, the screening, the onboarding, it all takes time. If you wait until everyone is booked, you end up with a waitlist and potential clients bouncing to someone who can see them right away.
Now let’s talk about your job description, because this is where most people get it wrong. Your job posting is not a boring list of requirements. It’s a love letter. You want to stand out. Lead with what you’re creating. Lead with the culture, the support, the systems, the team energy. The right therapist is scrolling through dozens of postings. If yours looks like everyone else’s, they’re not going to stop.
Inside the Clinic Growth Map™ , I give you my proprietary 6-Step Hiring Model™, which includes:
- Screening questions that filter for the right fit
- A personality assessment to gauge alignment
- A structured interview protocol
- A working interview and role-play scenarios
- Reference check questions
- A final decision framework
The goal is simple: only hire your “hell yeah.” That one person who makes you think, “Oh my gosh, yes. This is exactly who I want on my team.” Slow to hire, fast to fire. That’s the motto.
Why Your Group Practice Needs An Admin
One of the biggest mistakes I see group practice owners make is trying to do everything themselves. If you’re answering emails, managing schedules, handling client follow-ups, and putting out fires all day long, there’s no space left to actually lead your business. An admin changes that.
Here’s the mindset shift I want you to make: your admin is not just support staff. They are a growth position. When someone else is handling the day-to-day operations, you finally get to step into the CEO role and focus on the bigger picture, like growing your team, strengthening your culture, and bringing more clients into your practice.
And let’s talk about revenue, because I know what you might be thinking: “But can I afford an admin?” The truth is, a great admin often pays for themselves. They’re following up with cancelled appointments, rebooking no-shows, responding quickly to new inquiries, and making sure potential clients don’t slip through the cracks. Every one of those touchpoints can turn into retained revenue for your practice.
As your group practice grows, your admin also becomes the person who keeps everything running smoothly behind the scenes. They create consistency, improve the client experience, and free you from getting stuck in the weeds of the business. Because if you’re spending all your time doing admin work, no one is driving the bus.
Your job is to lead the vision, and an admin gives you the space to actually do that.
Building a Team That Grows With You
Hiring isn’t a one-time event. It’s a repeatable system. And when that system is solid, growth feels exciting instead of chaotic.
When you’re bringing on multiple therapists at once, make sure each new hire brings something different to the table: Every hiring decision you make shapes the culture of your practice. The Clinic Growth Map™ gives you the contracts, the compensation frameworks, the onboarding workflows, and the interview protocols to hire with confidence. Everything I used to build my own practice is yours, ready to be tailored to your unique goals, your market, and your vision.
You don’t want your new hires competing with each other. You want them complementing each other so your practice attracts a wider range of clients.
- Different availability (evenings, weekends, daytime slots)
- Different populations (individuals, couples, families, children, teens)
- Different modalities (CBT, EMDR, play therapy, IFS)
Ready to Build Your Dream Team?
If you’re ready to stop doing everything yourself and start building a team that reflects your values and supports the life you actually want, I would love to help you.
The Clinic Growth Map™ is a 6-month business coaching program designed exclusively for psychotherapists in North America who are scaling from solo to group practice, or who already have a group and want to take it to the next level. You’ll get weekly group coaching with me, expert-led sessions in HR, law, accounting, marketing (and more!), and lifetime access to every strategy, template, and workflow that got me to 7-figures. Book a free strategy call with my team and let’s figure out your next best step.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know when it's time to hire my first therapist?
The biggest sign is that you’re consistently full or turning clients away. Ideally, I recommend thinking about hiring when you’re at about 60-70% capacity, because the process of finding, interviewing, and onboarding the right person takes time.
When administrative work and clinical work start bleeding together so nothing gets your full attention, a hire isn’t optional anymore. It’s structural.
Who should my first hire be: a clinician or an admin?
I always say your first hire should be a clinician, specifically what I call a “mini me.” Someone with a similar energy, personality, and modality to yours. Why? Because that first hire is going to take over some of your existing clients, and you want that transition to feel seamless. That said, every practice is different. If you’re completely buried in admin tasks and it’s stopping you from growing, an admin might be the right first step to free up your time. Inside the Clinic Growth Map, we figure out the right move for your specific situation.
Where should I post job listings to find great therapists?
Indeed is a great platform for hiring therapists and was the primary platform I used while growing her practice to 55 therapists. It has a massive reach and continues to perform well for attracting clinical candidates. Professional associations like EMDR Canada allow you to pay for ads. Those ads can put your practice directly in front of therapists already engaged in the field. LinkedIn can also work well when you’re looking for therapists with very specific experience or backgrounds.
What should I look for when hiring a therapist for my group practice?
Beyond the clinical qualifications, I look for energy and alignment. Do they match the culture you’re building? Are they collaborative? Are they open to feedback? I always tell my members to hire their “hell yeah,” the person who makes you feel genuinely excited about working together. Inside the Clinic Growth Map, I give you my proprietary 6-Step Hiring Model™ that walks you through screening questions, personality assessments, working interviews, and role plays so you can evaluate fit before you commit.
Should I hire a pre-licensed therapist or someone who is fully licensed?
Both can work, but they come with different trade-offs. Pre-licensed therapists need supervision, which takes your time or costs money to outsource, but they’re often more available, more open to your culture, and more likely to stay long-term. Fully licensed therapists don’t require supervision and can take a broader range of clients, but they typically cost more and may have solo practice ambitions. Your supervision capacity and caseload complexity should drive that decision.
How do I decide who to hire next?
This is one of my favorite topics! Follow the data. Look at what your waitlist is asking for, what services you’re referring out, and where your therapists are running out of capacity. If clients are waiting too long because caseload is the bottleneck, hire another clinician. If your team has capacity but operations are chaotic, bring in an admin or VA. Solving the wrong bottleneck is one of the most common and costly mistakes in group practice growth.
How do I write a job description that actually attracts the right therapists?
Think of your job description like an online dating profile. You want to stand out. Lead with culture before you lead with requirements. Describe what it actually feels like to work at your practice: the caseload philosophy, the team energy, what growth looks like in this role. Requirements are necessary, but they don’t set you apart. Your culture does. The right person will read a great culture description and immediately know they belong there.
When should I post my next job listing if I already have a team?
Don’t wait until your current therapists are completely full. I recommend posting when your team is about 60 to 70 percent full. The hiring process takes time, from writing the listing to reviewing candidates, running interviews, and onboarding. If you wait too long, you end up with a waitlist and potential clients going somewhere else. Staying ahead of demand is one of the smartest things you can do as a CEO. Plan for growth before you desperately need it.
How do I build a hiring process that scales as my practice grows?
This is where systemization really pays off. When your hiring process is documented and repeatable, bringing on new team members feels exciting instead of chaotic. That means having a clear job description template, a structured interview protocol, screening questions, a working interview, and a step-by-step onboarding checklist already in place. Inside the Clinic Growth Map, I give you all of this, including my proprietary 6-Step Hiring Model™. It’s the same system I used to bring on 55 therapists in three years. Once you have it, hiring becomes a well-oiled machine that you can run over and over again.
How do I know if someone is actually the right cultural fit before I hire them?
Go deeper than the formal interview. Consider a working interview where you can see how they think and communicate in real time. Ask them directly: what are they looking for in a practice? How do they handle conflict with supervisors? What makes a team healthy? And always call their references. A ten-minute call with a former supervisor tells you more than three rounds of interviews.
Should I hire contractors (1099) or employees (W2)?
The answer depends on your location, your long-term vision, and how much structure and oversight you want within your practice.
Inside the Clinic Growth Map™, we help practice owners build a model that is sustainable, compliant, and aligned with the type of practice they ultimately want to create. That’s also why we have Employment Lawyers inside the program, one for Canada and one for the U.S. They host monthly Q&A sessions where members can ask questions and get guidance specific to their situation and location.
What is the most common hiring mistake group practice owners make?
Hiring before the systems are in place. When there are no written policies, no onboarding guide, no documented workflows, every question your new hire has goes straight to you. The freedom you thought hiring would create doesn’t show up. You’re just busier. Systemize first, then hire. Every time.
How do I onboard a new therapist so they feel supported from day one?
Cover three areas: operational (tech access, policy walkthroughs, scheduling setup), clinical (caseload introduction, supervision structure, documentation standards), and cultural (team introductions, practice values, communication expectations). When a new hire has access to clear policies and procedures from the start, they settle in faster and disrupt the existing team less.
Your future self will thank you for the decision you make today
Clinic Growth Map™
For Ambitious Therapists
Built for psychotherapists who have hit the ceiling of solo practice, The McCance Method offers a structured, 6-month business coaching program designed to help clinicians across North America scale to a profitable group practice. Led by Nicole McCance, a retired psychologist and mom of twins who grew her own practice to 55 therapists and multiple 7-figures, the program delivers a personalized roadmap, done-for-you templates, and expert support covering hiring, systems, and marketing — so therapists can build a practice that creates income and freedom.