ABSTRACT

Rural communities frequently have very limited mental health treatment resources. As described by Hastings and Cohn (2013), in comparison with urban areas, rural communities tend to have many fewer mental health and medical providers and services available to their residents. It has been found that there is not even a single psychologist or social worker in one-half of US counties with populations between 2,500 and 20,000 (Holzer, Goldsmith, & Ciarlo, 2000). Hastings and Cohn (2013) also point out that the majority of the communities the

federal government has identified as “critically in need of mental health practitioners” (mental health professional shortage areas) are located in rural areas (p. 38).