Mental Health Therapist, Contractor - VA / Remote

About the role

We are an early-stage company building a new kind of mental health program for kids, focusing on schools. Our goal is to support school staff who interact with students daily. We believe in:

• Earlier intervention
• Higher student and family engagement in care
• Better coordination among the trusted adults in a student's life

Kids should be able to experience joy and envision a life they're excited to live. Your role will help make this vision a reality for millions of students across the country.

Role type

This is a 1099 Independent Contractor position. Location: 100% remote in the U.S. Start date: Rolling start dates beginning September 2026.

What You’ll Do

• Provide excellent care, including mental health assessments and teletherapy, to PreK-12 students and school staff in Cartwheel’s partner school districts (typically 2-4 months per student with extension based on clinical need and clinician’s judgment)
• Participate in case discussions with other Cartwheel team members
• Support students and families with transition to community care providers
• Build collaborative, trusted, and lasting relationships with school leadership, staff, students, and families
• Meet regularly with school staff to discuss student mental health needs and develop strategies to improve school services
• If qualified and interested, provide clinical supervision to other care team members

Who You Are

• Mission-driven therapist with passion for working with schools on mental health and growing a startup company
• Active independent license in Virginia to deliver mental health care (LCSW, LMFT, LPC, PhD/PsyD)
• Experience with CBT, DBT, ACT, solution-focused therapy, and/or motivational interviewing
• At least two years of experience delivering mental health services to children and youth via telehealth
• Fluency in other languages (e.g., Spanish, Portuguese) (extra credit)
• Qualified to provide clinical supervision in Virginia
• Active NPI number (extra credit)
• CAQH credentialing set up (extra credit)

Why You’ll Love Cartwheel

• Competitive compensation ($60-75/hour base hourly rate + up to 5% quarterly Mission Bonus for Master’s-level clinicians, dependent on licensure, experience, language, etc.)
• Access to free online accredited continuing education and a CEU stipend
• Clinical Supervision for associate level clinicians
• Administrative support from our experienced, full-time Care Coordinators, and optional access to an AI-enabled medical scribe that saves you hours of documentation time (used and loved by the majority of Cartwheel clinicians!)
• Team-based care with mission-driven colleagues building a truly innovative school-community partnership model
• Opportunities beyond clinical care, including working closely with schools on staff support, workshops, and other programming

Cartwheel is Proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer

We embrace diverse backgrounds and perspectives and an inclusive work environment. We're committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, or veteran status. We participate in E-Verify. Please be prepared to provide acceptable documentation to verify your identity and work authorization.