Many psychiatrists are not good at therapy. They are the "medicine guy." Does he normally do therapy with his clients? A great deal of insurance companies refuse to pay for a psychiatrist to do therapy. So, he may not have a lot of experience doing therapy.
As for e-mails, there will probably be times that you might over do it especially if he has a lot of medication check clients (15 minutes sessions). My agency keeps the Pdocs very busy with a lot of 15 minutes sessions and 50 minute assessment/diagnoses sessions. They probably never do therapy. My first psychiatrist had to take a phone call in the middle of session because it might have been an in-patient (I get help at an out patient clinic at the hospital). Some how she was supposed to be seeing out-patients while being on-call for in-patients. Since this only happened once, I suspect that it is not common practice. However, Pdocs are very busy and it might be better to try a therapist because they do therapy on a regular basis, probably have less clients (takes less 50 minute sessions to fill a day than 15 minute med. checks), cheaper overall (may have different affect on co-pay) and have more time for you.
As for medication versus therapy, there is some people in society who would rather take a pill rather than work on changing one's lifestyle. Many doctors understand that most illnesses have a biological and psychological component. I found that my Pdocs had an annoying tendency to try to do therapy a little during the 15 minute med check. I had trouble not laughing at them. I can do it better without their two cents. I think pdocs sometimes think we all want a "happy pill." So they try to remind us that Depression has biological and psychological components. I suspect he emphasizes the psychological because he thinks that his patients get enough of the biological stuff from the constant drug ads. It makes it seem like a drug should fix us without working on it. I suspect that you know and understand the need to work on things and don't need to hear this constant prod to work on things. You might consider seeing a therapist and having him work the drug angle. But, if you are attached to him. It might be painful to shift over to a different person for therapy. So, its up to you.