A need for ethnic similarity in the therapist–patient interaction? Mediterranean migrants in Dutch mental-health care

Abstract

Evidence concerning a preference for ethnic matching in the therapist–patient dyad and the effects of ethnic matching on treatment satisfaction is equivocal. This study examined the importance of ethnic similarity in mental‐health care in the Netherlands. A convenience sample of 82 Turkish and 58 Moroccan outpatients in the community mental‐health care was interviewed. Quantified data were analyzed using multivariate techniques. The majority of the respondents did not value ethnic matching as important; clinical competence and compassion were considered to be more relevant than ethnic background. An ethnically dissimilar therapist treated the majority of the outpatients. Outpatients treated by a native Dutch therapist reported similar satisfaction with the services provided as those treated by an ethnically similar therapist. According to Turkish and Moroccan outpatients in Dutch mental‐health care, ethnic matching is not considered to be preferential nor essential for treatment satisfaction. Other health‐care characteristics such as empathy, expertise, and sharing of worldview are considered to be as important. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol.