Collaboration between rural school counselors and educational stakeholders may create opportunities to address inequities; however, there is limited research on rural school counselors' collaboration relationships. The purpose of this dissertation study is to understand the experiences of rural school counselors within the Virginia Department of Education's Region 3 in implementing professional standards related to collaboration through a multi-sited vertical case study methodology. Comparisons between national, state, and regional expectations and implementation of these professional standards was conducted by the author through exploring participants' context and experiences. Results reflect participants' increased role within this rural region in leading collaboration, their creative approaches to collaboration, and the benefit of relationships when collaborating with educational and community stakeholders. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]