Overview
The National Association for Rural Mental Health (NARMH) is a professional organization that serves the field of rural behavioral health. NARMH’s membership includes the entire spectrum of the rural mental health community, including consumers, family members, practitioners, administrators, educators, researchers, and policy makers. A unifying force for NARMH has been a focus on rural concerns, which includes a commitment to rural people and those that serve them. This belief that rural comes first has allowed NARMH to concentrate its efforts to improve access, availability, acceptability of behavioral health and substance abuse services and research in rural and frontier areas.
Message from NARMH President
Dear NARMH Members and Friends,
Every day, in small towns, on farms and ranches, and across frontier miles, people are doing quiet and extraordinary work. They are counselors or social workers who drive an hour to meet a client, family members who hold a community together, and researchers, educators, and advocates who refuse to let rural voices go unheard. I am thankful for each of you.
Our mission is simple and powerful: Linking Voices to Promote Rural Mental Health. NARMH brings together the entire rural mental health community, including consumers, family members, practitioners, administrators, educators, researchers, and policymakers. No single voice carries our whole story, but together we form a connected fabric of understanding.
Our belief that rural comes first guides everything we do. It is why we work to improve access and availability of behavioral health, mental health, and substance use disorder services in rural and frontier areas. Distance should never decide the quality of care a person receives. Rural people deserve care that fits their lives and honors their strengths.
Through our annual national conference, regional workshops, and publications, we keep knowledge flowing and good ideas spreading. When one community discovers a model that works, we help every community learn from it. As a common voice in national and state policy, we also work so that rural America is never an afterthought in mental healthcare policy. When we speak together, we are heard.
I am inspired by what we have built and even more by what lies ahead. I invite you to attend our conference, share your story, write for our publications, and lend your voice to our advocacy. Whether you have belonged for decades or found us only today, you have a place here.
Thank you for your dedication, compassion, and commitment to the people and communities we serve. Together, we are making sure rural voices are connected, valued, and heard.
With gratitude and optimism,
Fayth M. Parks, PhD, Licensed Psychologist
President
National Association for Rural Mental Health(NARMH)