Assalamualaikum,
"If you tell a person you have just met that you're taking an introductory psychology course, don't be surprised if he or she asks, 'So, are you analysing me right now?'" (Lilienfeld, 2012)
This is so true. I have met many people who said the same thing. Let me clarify things about psychology.
1. Psychology is defined as a study of human mind and behaviour. It is a study to understand people better and as for me, it helps me to understand myself better. However, we cannot fully understand people because humans are too complicated, aren't we? We can only try to understand and not to judge based on what we see because there're more stories we don't know.
Actually, psychologists still debate about the definition of psychology since there are too many ways in defining it. As what I said, humans are too complicated that the term "psychology" is still debatable.
2. No one can read your mind. There is no brain study, which can read your mind, so far. Seriously.
“To me, mind reading is where something is wholly subjective and private, and I can’t tell from what you’re doing or looking at, what your mental state is,” said Frank Tong, a neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University.
3. A psychology student or experienced psychologists do not know the whole story if you don't tell them. There are many factors affecting the behaviour and feeling of others. It could be other external factors and internal factors that they won’t tell. I'm pretty sure that people won't tell you EVERYTHING. There're things that best kept within ourselves. Therefore, psychologists usually do not make a decision for you but they will guide you to think deeply about your decision.
Therefore, when people ask me, "can you read my mind?" I would say "No.” Seriously, I don’t know what are you thinking of but I guess, you think that I can read your mind. The way we can know what other people think is by asking questions, but people have an option not to answer.
When people ask me "What do you think a career that best suits me based on my interest and personality?" I would say, "Be whatever you want to be as long as it benefits you and others.” This is because sometimes, our interests and personality do not really reliable in determining what we really want. We will discover new things about ourselves as time goes by. Our interest and personality will keep changing. The way we think, the way we look at something. Everything will change. That’s why I would say, do whatever you want to do be whatever you want to be but remember the important point: it must be beneficial to you and others. Consider to read this article: http://aiman-kisah.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/why-i-changed-from-engineering-to.html
We can only predict if there is a burden of proof. For example, someone is sad. Then, she calls her parents talking about academic. So, we can assume that a person is sad because of the academic performance. However, it could be other factors that make her sad.
We can only see what people want us to see. We can only know what people want us to know. There’re always stories that remained secret.
I really appreciate those who come to me and asking my opinions regarding the decisions they need to make, but I apologise for cannot make a decision for you. Because, how close we are, how many stories we share, we could never get the whole story. How hard I try to be in other people's shoes, it still won't feel the same.
That's why there's a saying in Malay, "berat mata memandang, berat lagi bahu yang memikul."
I can only hear your stories, offers you support, and give my humble opinions. I can only lead you to think about your future plan and thinks about the consequences of the decision you made. After all, only you know yourself better and only Allah knows you best and knows what's best for you :)
Don't be afraid to dream. Don't be afraid to start.
Believe in yourself and put faith in Allah.
p/s: If I were given a power to read people's mind, I would rather not to. Because knowing more about people has already made me feel scared of people in this world. It would be scarier if I know what people think and I would end up stay at home and not meeting people, which is not good. That's the wisdom of Allah. He does not reveal what shouldn't be revealed.