That is a misconception of psychology. I am not surprised, because psychology only relatively recently broke with philosophy. Until the 1940s few universities had a separate department of psychology, and professors of psychology were usually to be found in the philosophy department. Chemistry broke with philosophy when it abandoned hidden inner essences as explanations of chemical events, and as it became a science, physiology dropped the inner vis viva or élan vital in favor of mechanistic explanations of the body's workings. In any case, I recommend searching for "objective psychology" which emphasizes observation and experimentation, and "comparative psychology" which emphasizes the common origin of all species, including human beings, in natural selection, and helps to promote purely natural accounts of human behavior. Additionally, take a look at "radical behaviorism". It is known that cognitive behavioral therapies are effective. They are based on radical behaviorism. Whether or not behavior analysis is a part of psychology, the same as psychology, or independent of psychology is still an ongoing debate. Professional organizations such as the Association for Behavior Analysis, and journals, such as The Behavior Analyst, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, and Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, give the field an identity.

For more information: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Behaviorism-Behavior-Cu...

To reiterate: no, psychology is not akin to religion or astrology:

> Psychologists use the scientific method to conduct their research. The scientific method is a standardized way of making observations, gathering data, forming theories, testing predictions, and interpreting results.[1]

[1] https://www.sparknotes.com/psychology/psych101/researchmetho...