Rural Mental Health Practice: Voices from the Field

A commonly reported feature of rural mental health services is the ongoing difficulty agencies experience in the recruitment and retention of professional staff. The problem is compounded by negative portrayals of rural service by practitioners gleaned from the literature. The authors describe an exploratory study of the perceptions of 84 rural mental health professionals about their jobs. The professionals surveyed reported generally high levels of satisfaction with their jobs and rural life. Implications for rural mental health administrators and professional educators are offered.