... sige nga, i-psychologize mo nga ako! ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, osteopath, philippines, manila, quezon city)

when people discover that i'm a psychologist and psychiatrist, the frequent reaction I get from them is, "sige nga, i-psychologize mo ako (c'mon, psychologize me)."  my usual response is to divert the conversation to another topic because firstly, i don't actually know what the request to “psychologize” specifically means and secondly, i don't always enjoy talking about psychology-related matters during my off-clinic hours.    

 by requesting me to "psychologize" them, i assume these possible meanings:

- they want me to read their minds,

- they want me to give them an on-the spot profile of what their personality is like,

- they want me to assess them as to whether they have personality disorder or mental disorder, or

- they want to tell me about a problem they're facing and want some advise from me.  

in truth, psychologists cannot read people's minds or instantly know a person’s character.  for a psychologist to do a personality profile, they rely on data gathered from the following:

- observation of the person’s body language, mannerisms, speech patterns, breathing patterns, etc.

- clinical interviews with the person,

- clinical interviews with the person’s significant others,

- paper-and-pencil psychological tests

- a search for attitudinal/behavioural patterns as found in the person’s life’s history or biography (a.k.a. anamnesis). 

no, psychologist’s don’t have psychic powers and thus cannot read minds.  They rely on psychological methods, skills, and intuition built through years of dedicated clinical practice. 

 miriam college studes:  abby benipayo, berna hernandez, 

gia javier, camille mena, and belle mendiola