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Handbook of Rural, Remote, and very Remote Mental Health pp 1–21Cite as

Challenges and Rewards: The Role of Psychologists in Rural and Remote Areas

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Abstract

A review of the role of the psychologist in rural and remote practice highlights practical considerations and illuminates the varied, rich, challenging, and rewarding aspects of this practice setting. This chapter underscores the need to understand the immediacy and complexity of rural professional practice; these contexts may foster practice conditions that may be more prevalent, complicated, or even less easily resolved than in urban professional practice. The psychologist’s role in this context is one of providing optimal care with suboptimal resources, adapting to personal challenges and professional struggles, and responding to the rural context by adapting professional practice norms, adopting rural-specific practice guidelines, and finally, reaping the intrinsic rewards of the rural lifestyle.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. PAA Psychologists’ Association of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Judi L. Malone

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  1. Judi L. Malone
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Correspondence to Judi L. Malone .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Flinders University, Centre for Remote Health, Alice Springs, NT, Australia

    Timothy A. Carey

  2. Fac. of Business, Justice a. Behav. Sci., Charles Sturt University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Judith Gullifer

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Malone, J.L. (2020). Challenges and Rewards: The Role of Psychologists in Rural and Remote Areas. In: Carey, T.A., Gullifer, J. (eds) Handbook of Rural, Remote, and very Remote Mental Health. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5012-1_18-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5012-1_18-1

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