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Compass Health Center
Chicago, Illinois

Art Group Therapist

CounselorFull-Time

Listed compensation

$47k-$65k

Listing transparency2 of 6 stated

Ask the employer about the work setting, call expectations and weekend coverage.

Employment & setting
Full-Time
Call expectations
Not specified
Weekends
Not specified
Posted 1h ago · Verified live

Job Description

Weekly outpatient therapy isn't always enough, and a trip to the ER isn't the only answer. Patients and their families rely on Compass Health Center when in crisis – every day, we help people overcome depression, anxiety, suicidality, obsessions/compulsions, trauma, chronic pain, and other obstacles in order for our patients to live freely.

About This Role

We are seeking an experienced clinician with a passion for delivering evidence-based therapy to Adults and Young Adults with anxiety and mood disorders. As a Creative Art Therapist, you will be responsible for facilitating general skills groups, process groups, creative art therapy groups, coordinating creative art therapy practices and principles and providing individual treatment as needed.

If you are passionate about working with patients to communicate, develop and carry out appropriate treatment plans and compassionate care, you would be an ideal addition to our team.

What You'll Do

  • CBT/DBT Skills curriculum development and group facilitation
  • Consideration of therapy treatment goals and consultation with treatment team
  • Creative Art Therapy Curriculum Development and group facilitation

Helping establish creative art therapy principles including patient challenges, modifications/theoretical consideration

Ensuring the upkeep of materials and art supplies are safe and organized

Documenting within the electronic health record with ethical considerations/storage and disposal of artwork/consent

Consulting with treatment team about principals and ethics regarding responding to patient art, what to do with concerns over content, storage, documentation and processing

  • May assist in the training of new staff and interns, providing direction and clinical guidance
  • Provide crisis intervention as needed

Who You Are

  • Hold a Master’s degree or PhD degree in the Creative Arts
  • ATR (registered art therapist) or BC-DMT required
  • License preferred (LPC, LCPC, LSW or LCSW)
  • Have experience with program target population in group and individual art therapy settings
  • Possess a core skill set of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

We are committed to a fair and equitable work environment. The expected compensation range for this role is below. This range includes multiple career path levels across the organization; where you fall in the range is dependent upon a number of factors including, but not limited to, your years of experience, type of experience, location, and education/certifications. Compass reserves the right to update these ranges.

Compensation

$47,000—$65,000 USD

We know job descriptions can be intimidating, so if this sounds like an opportunity for you, please don't hesitate to apply!

Who We Are

Compass Health Center is a recognized leader in crisis-level mental health, bringing passion, connection, and patient-centered care to the Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient space (PHP/IOP). Based in Chicagoland, we serve hundreds of patients every day, ranging from ages 5 through adulthood, in our onsite facilities or through our flourishing virtual programming. Compass fills a critical gap between outpatient and inpatient care through an intermediate level of Behavioral Healthcare.

A few more things we want you to know: our values are super important to us, and hopefully will be to you, too. Cultural humility, teamwork, continuous improvement, connection, patient centered care, passion, innovation, and agility should be your power sources. Joining Compass is an opportunity to feel fulfilled through a joint mission towards healing our communities.

Benefits & Perks

We know that you will be dedicated to your purpose here. We look at that investment as a two-way street. We are proud to offer plenty of space for growth, and opportunities to pursue continuous development within our organization.

For eligible positions, our other benefits include: comprehensive medical/dental/vision plans, 401k program with company matching, generous PTO (including competitive parental leave after 1 year of employment), and continuous training through CEU seminars and volunteering opportunities.

What’s Next?

Compass is committed to cultivating diverse and dynamic teams who exude passion for their craft, so whether or not you check all the boxes, we encourage you to apply – we’d be grateful to hear from you!

Key Responsibilities

Facilitate creative art therapy and skills-based groups while developing treatment plans for patients with mood and anxiety disorders. Maintain clinical documentation, manage art supplies, and consult with the treatment team to ensure ethical and effective patient care.

Requirements

Requires a Master's or PhD in Creative Arts and an ATR or BC-DMT certification. Experience with group and individual therapy for the target population is essential, with a preference for licensed professionals.

Qualifications

Education
Doctoral or professional degree (postgraduate degree)
Experience
2+ years of experience

Key Skills

Treatment planningMental health counselingPatient assessment

Counselor Career Context

Compass Health Center ranks #14 of 19 employers hiring Counselor on WeekdayDoc by average advertised pay.

In Illinois, the Mental Health Therapy weighted monthly median benchmark on WeekdayDoc is ~$70k (156 salary observations; 407 listings), vs ~$74k nationally (2,909 salary observations; 9,387 listings). Monthly aggregates cover 2025-12-01 through 2026-09-01; these are not the modal's selected comparable-job medians.

Of the 50 active Mental Health Therapy listings this role was benchmarked against, 54% are remote, 34% have no call, 64% require no weekends.

Mental Health Therapy pay on WeekdayDoc is up 1.9% vs. the prior quarter (through Aug 2026).

The cost-of-living index for Illinois is 100.0 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$56k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $56k in an average-cost state. 62.6% of Illinois clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

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Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks34 jobs · 27 employers

401k / retirement match
91% this job
CME allowance
50% this job
Sign-on bonus
35%
Loan repayment
15%
PSLF eligible
9%

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Work-life snapshot

3.0/ 10
Listing-based score

Living in Chicago

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$356k
Typical market rent
$2,342/mo
Residents’ average commute
33 min
State income tax
Up to 5%
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Aug 2026), Zillow market rents (Aug 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

City-level figures. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.

Compass Health Center logo

About Compass Health Center

Mental Health Care
Chicago, Illinois
501-1,000 employees

Benefits & Perks

Comprehensive medical/dental/vision plans
401k with company matching
Generous PTO
Competitive parental leave after 1 year
CEU seminars
Volunteering opportunities