Jeff wrote:

another main problem I had was him letting another plane get so close in IMC that
he had to give me a traffic alert. what happened to this seperation I was suppose
to be getting.

You pushed him and he probably tried to fit you in, which resulted in the traffic
aleart. Have you ever visited the TRACON, plugged in, and asked about the handoff
procedures from center to approach control for IFR arrivals?