Counseling Dropout, Retention, and Ethnic/Language Match for Asian Americans

As a heterogeneous population, Asian Americans are typically studied as homogenous, as opposed to making distinctions among nationalities and first languages. The current study examined whether ethnic/language match and mismatch among 150 Asian client/counselor pairs predicted successful completion of counseling and number of treatment sessions while controlling for counseling dropout and retention predictors such as socioeconomic status and acculturation. The participant data were obtained from a deidentified database of clients and counselors at a community mental health center for Asian Americans in the Southwest region of the United States. The main finding was that ethnic/language matching of Asian client and counselor pairs predicted successful completion of counseling and number of treatment sessions. The results of the study suggest that, when feasible, ethnic/language matching of Asian American clients and counselors may minimize patient dropout from counseling. Given that this matching is usually unfeasible, the authors suggest several strategies for improving the retention of Asian-American clients (as well as other clients from international backgrounds) in counseling.