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by Dr. Robert Edinger
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Sample 1st Paragraph for The Statement of Purpose for the MA in Counseling Psychology

 

It was always my intention to ‘make a difference’ in my life rather than merely to ‘make a living’. Since my earliest days, I have been interested in how the mind works and the vast differences between individual reactions to similar situations and challenges. All my adult academic and working experience has been devoted to the study and practice of psychology and counseling, except for a period spent in a ‘call center’. This experience was also beneficial, as one cannot function well in society without creative listening skills and a genuine ability to empathize and then find and apply practical solutions. I plan to extend my skills and knowledge in Counselling Psychology to maximize my utility to clients, to enable me to pursue a Ph.D. eventually, and then to practice and teach as an expert in the field. My interests are broad, but I have developed a particular area of interest is in assisting child patients and their families because of the levels of distress and sacrifice that I have observed. 

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Sample 1st Paragraph for The Statement of Purpose for the PsyD in Counseling Psychology

 

XXXX University is my first choice to earn my PsyD for a variety of reasons, primarily my profound admiration of your advanced curriculum and the streamlined nature of your program. My drive to earn the PsyD is a direct result of my extensive experience with special needs children—beginning with my own 2 children. My daughter XXXX will turn 15 in May; intellectually gifted, she has done outstandingly well given the fact that she was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in pre-school. My son XXXX, who just turned 12, still struggles with learning disabilities and has many characteristics of ADHD. As I continue to reflect on and learn from our experience, I become increasingly engaged with the subject of psychological assessment and the pivotal role that it plays in diagnosis and subsequent treatment. I think in terms of windows of opportunity, especially in the case of my daughter. I hope to publish in this area and give it my all for the balance of my professional life. Thus, it would be a great honor for me to have the privilege of studying under Dr. XXXX whose work on assessment I deeply admire, along with Dr. XXXX in the area of school-based consultation and Dr. XXXX in the areas of risk, resiliency, transition, and diversity issues.

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Sample 1st Paragraph PsyD Degree in Counseling Psychology, Sexology

 

My long term goal is to become a distinguished sexologist. Still only 26, I look forward to spending many decades to come studying mental health issues as they relate to sexuality, especially among communities of color, and the way in which it tends to perpetuate itself across generations in those communities. While completing my undergraduate studies in Psychology at UT Arlington, the single most important experience that I had in terms of the development of my career interest and vocation was working as a Crisis Coach, informing women with unplanned pregnancies of their options, providing them with non medical education, an overview of what happens to the body and baby during pregnancy. I always offered words of encouragement, especially to those who were most distressed. Most of my clients in this program were the same color as I am, black.

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Sample First 2 Paragraphs PHD Degree in Clinical Psychology

 

In addition to having completed my undergraduate studies in psychology with honors, I feel that I am a strong candidate for your distinguished program leading to the doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology because of my professional experiences, first with a woman’s center and now with a homeless shelter. From September of 2012 through September of 2013 I served as a certified youth advocate after completing an intensive 8 week course. I had the profound privilege of leading community outreach projects in XXXX County that included raising teen dating awareness, mentoring at risk youth, and laboring to cultivate higher levels of self esteem for my clients. Since this past August, I have been deeply immersed in the day to day affairs of our homeless shelter in XXXX, and I am now serving as a case manager while building a special emphasis and knowledge bank in the area of crises intervention. It is a profound honor for me to serve this highly diverse and vulnerable sector of our society. Most importantly, I now have direct experience with precisely the vulnerable groups that I hope to build a specialty studying in graduate school and then serving professionally for the balance of my life.

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I have now been Homeless Services Center in XXXX continuously shapes my experience that prepares me for a successful completion of graduate school. Working with one of the most vulnerable populations in my community I have had exposure and involvement helping families and individuals experiencing numerous hardships including crisis situations, multiple forms of trauma, psychopathology, suffering from addiction(s), as well as physical and learning disabilities. I have been given the opportunity to practice forms of case management by providing support and resources during highly sensitive times. I have also had the ability to work very closely with the children and families living in our six-month emergency shelter.  I plan to continue the rest of my AmeriCorps service term by being a catalyst for change in my community by advocating for the populations I am working with, spreading education and awareness to others, and continuing to provide direct services to the families and individuals I am serving. While my time serving in AmeriCorps is hardly halfway through, I have been able to reflect a great deal about the positive impact I have been able to make so far on my community and the clients our center serves. I am certain that becoming a clinical psychologist is the road I want to take.