You are describing old clinical psychology. Its gotten so much better. Rorschach tests are now only a very marginal measure within psychoanalytic psychology. Psychoanalytic/pscyhodynamic psychologists are themselves outcasts from mainstream clinical psychology, which is increasingly centered around evidence-based practice. For example, behaviorists are using systematic desensitization in novel and effective ways (for treating things like panic disorder), and cognitive-behavioral therapy is quite effective in treating depression: significantly more so than antidepressants.
The important thing to remember is that patients often get the treatment they want. If you’re a self-absorbed neurotic, and you want to spend an hour a week for years talking about yourself, you can find someone who will take your money. If you want effective treatment, you can find that too. Most patients don’t want to get better, they want to feel like they are doing something, and especially they want to talk about themselves.
Most patients don’t want to get better, they want to feel like they are doing something, and especially they want to talk about themselves.
And if people have that attitude about non-psychiatric diseases, and an MD indulges them and talks about things instead of insistingly recommending effective treatment, that MD is guilty of malpractice.
One of the top comments from the post you link:
And if people have that attitude about non-psychiatric diseases, and an MD indulges them and talks about things instead of insistingly recommending effective treatment, that MD is guilty of malpractice.