Atomic chemistry is "real" in that, when it does break down (extreme energies, rare particles, etc), it's for reasons that can be explained in atomic chemistry's own vocabulary. On the other hand, psychology, for example, tends to break down for reasons that can't be explained, or can only be explained in terms of biology.

I'm not sure I follow this. Isn't atomic chemistry an abstraction describing the behavior of the wave function? How are the places it breaks down explained by it's own vocabulary?