Hey ghanada,
Thanks for the feedback, and yes, this is some good advice that I have received before. I guess my reasons for pursuing a Masters are two-fold. The main reason is that I did not take full advantage of research opportunities during my undergraduate years, and following graduation, I have found it very difficult to find a good RA position while lacking extensive previous experience (much less a paid RA position). On another note, I also want to strengthen my abilities in psychotherapy and my personal areas of interest simultaneously, as I hope to pursue a science-practitioner based PhD program and one day participate in both research and applied clinical work.
An RA position sounds great, but it has seemed both difficult to obtain and one-sided in regard to my career goals, so I felt that spending a little money for some further education made sense.
Maybe I'm thinking about this the wrong way, and if you think I'm wrong on any of this, by all means please clear it up for me! There are multiple roads to the PhD, which I suppose can be both a burden and a blessing.
Thanks again for your feedback!