Well, i'm my own cdc, so I have to say that i'm excellent.
Seriously though, aside from those mentioned who are obviously taking the piss, I think that most cdcs will suit some clients but not others. Personally, I work full time, am at college so have to do assignments, and have two young kids plus a partner (so, three kids really
). Therefore, the counselling has to fit around my incredibly busy life. Nowadays, I only have two evenings a week where I can fit clients in (the other evenings are taken up with ferrying the kids around to their various activities), although I do try my best to be flexible if a client's having problems with my alloted days. At times when i'm innundated, I have to quickly weigh clients (unless they don't want to be weighed), get their stuff together, and see them out the door. However, if a client turns up during a quiet period, i'm perfectly happy to sit and chat with them for however long they want to, as I enjoy talking to people.
As i'm working during the day, and rarely sit down before 9.30pm in the evenings (yes, I know i'm here now, but i've had to swap my Thursday for Wednesday this week, due to work, and i'm between clients!), I must admit that I never call clients anymore. I know that I should, but I simply would never find time to call thirty different people every week. However, I always stress that i'm available for advice or support at any time... even if I do say that they may be better off emailing as i'm rarely in to answer the phone!
Anyhow, i'm rambling. I'm sure that I have some clients who're put off by my lack of time for them, and I know i've lost potential new clients occasionally, because I won't drive to them and/or see them at weekends. On the other hand, I have had clients move to me because they actually prefer my laid back way of counselling, and most of my existing clients are incredibly supportive and understanding about my busy life. They're generally just very pleased that I haven't given up the counselling, after my recent increase in work hours!
I don't know if all that is particularly relevant to your question or not, but I just though i'd give an 'inside view'. I think that the main thing people want is just to have a counsellor who is nice, friendly, knowledgable, and actually seems bothered about their weight loss, rather than just seeing the job as a money making exercise. So long as this is the case, then people are generally quite accommodating towards everything else.
Jo x
