It's an interesting conversation. My current analyst is also a psychiatrist. So have all my former ones. As MDs, they do do things differently, but the combination of being trained as an analyst on top of the other training and lots of years of experience I think is what has made the difference in my particular case. It's true that there is general skepticism about diagnosis and quantification, but they do make a diagnosis if medication is needed. My current analyst started off as a researcher so he is not opposed to quantification methods in psychology per se, but he knows that lots of studies are flawed in terms of design and external or internal validity so these sorts of things are taken for what they offer and with more than a grain of salt.
As far as my own situation is concerned, I probably am capable of working though full time sounds a bit overwhelming. I was going to a tough school full time and will continue to do so. I was handling it okay, but it was stressful. Switching to a slightly less demanding school will probably do the trick. Then I can build up my tolerance and endurance gradually.
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