Masters thesis - should it be in my doctoral study area?

[dancedementia]

Hey all! I'm in a masters program (clinical mental health counseling, CACREP) with the option to complete a thesis. I've opted to do so as a way to show that I'm capable of graduate-level writing. The research faculty at my institution do not have any interest in the area(s) I want to focus on in my doctoral studies (tl;dr - eating disorders / body dysmorphia, although a bit more nuanced than that).

However, I have recently been given a very plum opportunity with a well-known lab that studies co-morbidity of drug use and anxiety disorders (they have active grants from NIMH and NIDA). They've said I'm welcome to collect data through their lab and utilize the facilities for my thesis work. Authorship on posters are a guarantee, and publication is likely.

Should I take this opportunity, even though it's not exactly in my area of interest? Obvious pros are financial support and authorship, but I don't want to seem all over the place with my research topics when it comes to applying for doctoral programs. Would I be better off trying to find another lab that at least is somewhat related to eating disorders or body image?

Edited June 3, 2017 by dancedementia

[Sherrinford]

If your end goal is pursuing a clinical psychology PhD or any kind of career in a research, I think this would be a great opportunity for you. However, it would be best to get involved in research that is relevant to your longer term interests.

Usually schools allow you to work at other labs for your thesis if it is a better fit. Have you looked at other research labs you could work in? Maybe talk to your academic adviser and see if it is possible. 

If it isn't, and your option is to either do the thesis or not do it, I would suggest doing the thesis because being able to say you conducted your own research and did the analysis and wrote-it up is great. My MA thesis wasn't exactly related to what I want to study in my doctorate, but it was pretty close. Being able to match my own research experience with the labs I applied to for my doctorate was a very important aspect of the application process. 

One thing, I did have a bunch of research experience that wasn't related to what I wanted to pursue. When talking about it in my personal statement, I tried to find common ground and talk about what kind of skills I gained and lessons I learned that helped me continue to develop my research interests/goals. So if you do decide to work in that research lab, bear in mind that you will have to be able to do this as well.

You're not in NY are you? That lab you want to work in...would coincidentally be a great fit for my interests, haha.