It's really not the job of a T to come up with a diagnosis, though it is natural for the T to be thinking about what diagnosis could fit you. Your T has been very responsible in sending you for screening tests that can be very useful in identifying what might potentially be a diagnosis. Legally, only the psychiatrist can write down that he/she is assigning a particular diagnosis to you. A clinical psychologist can also select a diagnosis for you. Some of them are very good at diagnosing. A psychologist has PhD after his/her name and is addressed as "Doctor so-and-so." A therapist usually has a master's degree in social work or in counseling. A master's degree, no matter what it is in, does not legally qualify a person to diagnose a client with a particular mental disorder. Let me take that back. A nurse practitioner can also write a diagnosis. An NP has a master's degree. Though a good experienced therapist may be an excellent judge of what the diagnosis should be. He/she can give feedback to the "Doctor," who is the one who fills in the blank after the word "Diagnosis." Lots of times, they choose a loose diagnosis, until they figure out something more focused. Sometimes they put the diagnosis down as tentative. This is the way I understand it, and I am only about 94% sure on this. I was required to learn this, but things could have changed since I was in school.

I know it sounds kind of backwards that the person who you would think knows you the best is not the person who arrives at the diagnosis. One thing I know for 100% sure is this: if you are getting medication, then the person who prescibes the medication is going by a diagnosis that he, or she, made . . . not one that somebody else came up with. Hopefully, they all work as a team and share their understanding of what is causing you serious emotional disturbance.

JD's point about not getting rushed into a diagnosis is well taken, as are the other points made in the post above. I don't know if what I explained above is of that much interest at this point to you. Sorry, if I went overboard. Often new clients are unsure of who is doing what. I think it is good to know. Once I objected to a diagnosis a pdoc was making, and she was willing to respect that and agreed to not put it down. So, a lot of things are negotiable. As JD says, ask what they believe about what you've already gone over and keep an eye on what conclusions they may be drawing. You can be part of the discussion on that.

Your boyfriend sounds like a very sensible person for you to be talking with about all of this. You don't want to drop this process, and then years down the line end up needing to start it all over again. As bf says, "You'll get something out of it." Something is not nothing. Hope this wasn't an overload of feedback.