Abstract
This study explored the relationship of client ethnicity, age, gender, severity of symptoms, and ethnic-match with therapist, and gender-match with therapist on how long they stay in treatment. These variables were measured from archival data obtained from a community mental health agency in Southern California. A series of statistical analyses, including correlations, analyses of variance, and survival analyses, including a life table, Kaplan Meier analyses, and a Cox Regression were conducted in order to determine which had the greatest impact on length of treatment. It was found that several factors contributed to the length of treatment, including age, gender, client-therapist gender match, and client-therapist ethnic match. Results indicated that older clients, male clients, clients who were matched on gender with their therapist, and clients who were not matched ethnically with their therapist were likely to remain in treatment longer. In terms of future practice, these findings suggest that while ethnic matching may still contribute to retaining clients for a full length of treatment, it is not the only factor to consider. Future research should focus more on other aspects of matching, such as gender, as well as other factors that could contribute to the results of ethnic matching, such as acculturation status.