Counselors' and clients' ethnic similarity and therapeutic alliance in time-limited outcomes of counseling

51 pairs of clients and counselors at a Southwestern university counseling and research training clinic were assessed for ethnic similarities in relat ion to the therapeutic alliance and counseling outcomes in 6 sessions of co unseling. Analysis showed after 6 sessions symptom distress u as reduced. A lso, counselors and clients who had similar ethnicity had significantly mor e positive counseling outcomes than ethnically dissimilar pairings, but eth nic similarity mas not related to the nature of the therapeutic alliance an d therapeutic alliance was nor a correlate of counseling outcomes.