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Northwell
New York

Creative Art Therapist

CounselorFull-Time

Listed compensation

$66K - $98K

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

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

Posted 6mo ago

Job Description

Provides creative arts therapy, psychotherapy and counseling. Provides an environment that fosters and enhances creativity, socialization, and promotes physical and mental health.

Job Responsibility

  • Develops and conducts individual and group creative arts therapy sessions to include long-term and short-term goals based on observation and referrals.
  • Designs and implements a variety of goal-oriented group sessions which utilize art and other creative modalities (e. g. music, drama, and dance) as effective therapeutic tools.
  • Assists in operating, maintaining and purchasing equipment and other materials/resources necessary for creative art therapy sessions, i. e., presentation equipment, supplies, etc.
  • Plans and implements a structured experience to enhance patient self-awareness and self-expression.
  • Encourages independent creative expression through the use of creative arts, music or related media.
  • Maintains current clinical documentation on all patients’ sessions.
  • Assesses effectiveness of sessions and makes appropriate changes, as needed.
  • Participates as a team member in providing continuing patients’ assessment and treatment.
  • Attends treatment team meetings and supervisory conferences.
  • Performs related duties as required. All responsibilities noted here are considered essential functions of the job under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Duties not mentioned here, but considered related are not essential functions.

Job Qualification

  • Master's Degree required, or equivalent combination of education and related experience.
  • Current License to practice as a Creative Arts Therapist in New York State required, plus specialized certifications as needed.
  • 1-3 years of relevant experience, required.

*Additional Salary Detail

The salary range and/or hourly rate listed is a good faith determination of potential base compensation that may be offered to a successful applicant for this position at the time of this job advertisement and may be modified in the future. When determining a team member's base salary and/or rate, several factors may be considered as applicable (e. g., location, specialty, service line, years of relevant experience, education, credentials, negotiated contracts, budget and internal equity).

Key Responsibilities

The Creative Art Therapist develops and conducts individual and group therapy sessions using various creative modalities to promote patient mental health. They are responsible for maintaining clinical documentation, assessing patient progress, and participating in interdisciplinary treatment team meetings.

Requirements

Candidates must hold a Master's degree and a current license to practice as a Creative Arts Therapist in New York State. A minimum of 1-3 years of relevant clinical experience is required for this position.

Qualifications

Education
Master's degree (postgraduate degree)

Key Skills

Patient assessmentIndividual therapyMusic therapyDrama therapyDance therapyTreatment planningSelf-expression facilitationMental health supportInterdisciplinary collaboration

Work-Life Balance Analysis

WeekdayDoc's proprietary algorithm rates Creative Art Therapist at Northwell a 7.2 out of 10 for work-life balance — classified as very good. This places the position in the top 25% in Mental Health Therapy (Counseling) — ranked against 7,851 active Mental Health Therapy (Counseling) listings on WeekdayDoc.

Counselor Career Context

Of the 50 active Mental Health Therapy listings this role was benchmarked against, 32% are remote, 38% have no call, 66% require no weekends.

The cost-of-living index for New York is 107.9 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$82k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $76k in an average-cost state. 64.6% of New York clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Mental Health Therapy by the numbers
MeasureThis jobMarket
Work-life score7.2 / 10 · top 25% in mental health therapy (counseling)ranked against 7,851 Mental Health Therapy (Counseling) listingslisting-based score, 0–10
Listed pay$66k–$99kMental Health Therapy median $78k (middle half $70k–$78k)17 comparable listings, Oct 2026
Cost-of-living adjusted pay~$76k in purchasing powerNew York index 107.9 (US = 100)BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)
Mental Health Therapy listings in New York313 active7,865 nationallylive on WeekdayDoc, Oct 2026
Work settingon-sitepeers: 32% remote · 38% no call · 66% no weekends50 benchmarked listings
Sources: WeekdayDoc live listing index (7,851 Mental Health Therapy (Counseling) listings), BEA Regional Price Parities (2024); as of Oct 2026. Same values as the Weekday Verdict and Market Insights on this page.

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Work-life snapshot

median 6.0this job 7.2
Better work-life than 80% of Mental Health Therapy (Counseling) listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 7,851 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.