Volume_4_Issue_4_Digest

TPC D igest 69 Small But Mighty: Perspectives of Rural Mental Health Counselors – DIGEST Anastasia Imig Anastasia Imig is a doctoral candidate at the University of South Dakota. Correspondence can be addressed to University of South Dakota, Room #210 Delzell, 414 E. Clark St., Vermillion, SD 57069, anastasi.imig@usd.edu . C linical literature and counselor pedagogy remain limited regarding rural mental health counseling. As a result, counselors new to the mental health profession are often ill-equipped to ethically and competently serve rural clients. The purpose of the current study was to detail the experiences of licensed mental health counselors practicing in rural areas of the Midwest region of the United States, as well as, inform future rural mental health practice. From a critical theory perspective, this study asked the global question, “What is the experience of rural mental health counselors?” Three subquestions included the following: (a) How does the experience of working in a rural setting impact the counselor’s roles? (b) What are the contextual factors impacting counseling supervision in rural areas? and (c) What is the essence of the professional development of supervisors and supervisees providing counseling services in rural areas? The author designed and administered a semistructured interview to four practicing mental health counselors working in rural settings. Participants were all female, three of four were in their mid-30s, and three of four had ten years of counseling experience. The participants’ responses categorized the nature of rural mental health counseling into five different themes: (a) flexibility, (b) resource availability, (c) isolation, (d) ethical dilemmas and (e) finding meaning in one’s work. This study demonstrates the nature of rural mental health counseling, highlighting the extra roles and duties participants took on (e.g., teacher, case manager, secretary, grant writer, administrator), as well as the multiple settings in which they practiced (e.g., clients’ homes or place of employment, libraries, churches, funeral homes). This study further emphasizes the ambiguous nature of availability and accessibility of rural mental health resources. At times, funding existed for professional