The relationship between cultural dissimilarity and the duration, satisfaction, and perceived effectiveness of counseling was studied in the context of 70 actual treatment dyads that varied as to the race of the counselor (white or nonwhite) and the client (white or nonwhite). Results indicated that white counselors provided fewer sessions than nonwhite counselors and that nonwhite clients expressed lower levels of overall satisfaction with counseling, regardless of counselor race. No differences in counseling effectiveness were observed as measured by counselor and client ratings of perceived relief, understanding, and coping. Relative to other treatment dyads, however, white clients seeing white counselors attributed their change more to counseling than to other, outside factors. Implications of these findings for cross-cultural counseling and research are noted.Recent research has focused on the dissatisfaction of nonwhite populations with traditional counseling (Pine,-1972), as reflected in their underutilization (Sue, 1973) and premature termination (Sue & McKinney, 1974) of counseling services. Many Cultural factors may contribute to this service deficiency, but researchers have paid particular attention to the impact of racial differences on the counseling process.It is generally acknowledged that racial groups differ in their values (Sue & Sue, 1977), beliefs (Schwebel, 1980), and behaviors (Herman, 1979), as well as their counseling needs (Westbrook, Miyares, & Roberts, 1978) and expectations (Yuen & Tinsley, 1981). If the counselor is not sensitive to such differences, they may serve as impediments to effective counseling (Sue, 1981, pp. 27-47;Sue & Sue, 1977). This notion has given rise to the suggestion that in the absence of specific training, individuals who share similar backgrounds may work together more effectively than those of different backgrounds.In support of this reasoning, some work has suggested that clients prefer racially similar counselors (PoichS & Banikiotes, 1982) and that this similarity may actually enhance counseling effectiveness (Fry, Krbpf, & Coe, 1980). Other evidence is inconsistent with these findings, however.Proctor and Rosen (1981), for example, found that treatment satisfaction and termination were unrelated to the racial makeup of counseling dyads. Even when the preference for a racially Requests for reprints should be sent to