Successful urban-to-rural professional role transition.

Mental health professionals who move from urban to rural environments to seek changes in lifestyle frequently experience stress in making personal and professional role transitions. Difficulty in making role transitions is a factor that adversely affects the rate of professional retention in the rural mental health field. This article reviews the sociological variables known to affect the ease of transition into new roles utilizing typical rural situations and practice examples to highlight the application of role transition theory to rural practice. The article concludes with recommendations to rural MHC administrators on ways to improve screening procedures for urban job applicants and ways to facilitate the urban professional's transition to rural life.