Abstract
This non-experimental study aimed to see how ethnicity affects an individual's attitude toward seeking mental health services and how ethnicity affects an individual's preference for a counselor of the same ethnicity. A convenience sample of 108 adults, 18 years of age or older, was obtained using social media platforms. The participants completed the Mental Health Service Survey, which included demographic questions and the components of the Attitude Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Scale created by Fischer and Turner (1970). The findings indicated Blacks or African Americans have a similar attitude toward seeking mental health services to non-Blacks or non-African Americans. Additionally, the results indicated Blacks or African Americans preferred a counselor of the same ethnicity significantly more than non-Black or non-African Americans. The difference in counselor ethnicity preference is more likely to account for the difference in mental health service usage among ethnicities than attitudes toward seeking mental health services. Therefore, more should be done to ensure diversity among counselors who provide mental health services.