Oh I hear you! I'm thankfully only on my fourth psychiatrist in my twenty years of continuous treatment. Of those four, only one, the first one, appeared to have real skills as a therapist. They really are two separate skill sets IMO. I've always had my therapist separate from my psychiatrist and prefer it that way.

My previous and current psychiatrists were both very clear from the outset: "I do meds." Previous one was capable of doing both, but had excellent boundaries about not meddling in ongoing therapy. Number two was (with apologies to professionals reading this) still a baby shrink and didn't know how to do much of anything in either department. His listening skills sucked, too. Grrrr.

*ahem* I digress. Anyhow, yes, I empathize hugely with feeling reduced to a diagnosis code and a set of symptoms and chemicals. I've also learned over the years that psych docs speak a different language. Chances are yours is trying to be comforting in her own foreign language, by telling you that you are not bonkers, but your brain chemistry is scrambled, and as the two of you find medication interventions that work, you will actually become more *yourself* rather than being at the mercy of the scrambled brain signals that are currently torturing you.

As with all foreign language communication issues, sometimes having a good translator/interpreter helps. Bummer that we can't just tuck one in our pockets for these appointments huh?