Rural areas have fewer health services and are proportionally underrepresented in practicing mental health professionals. For community psychology to meet the needs of rural populations, new training approaches for community psychologists will need to be developed. New areas of prevention and intervention will require roles and functions different from those taught in traditional training programs. Training will need to take into account the unique socio-economic characteristics, epidemiology, ecology, and problems and politics of rural communitites. The rural psychologist must be able to develop programs based on assessment of local needs, understand and use political and legal processes (lobbying, grantwriting, legislative networks), develop volunteer programs specific to individual communities, and use educational programming aimed at prevention of local problems in many areas beyond the traditional, exclusive concern for the mentally ill. (The development of a Parents Anonymous group and a suicide research program are described which illustrate the rural community psychologist role outlined.) (MCF)