pcl case study
Excitable Risk Type
James is a self-employed sales consultant who enjoys change and has been described as an ‘adrenaline junkie’ by his friends. Recently, a change in his personal life clearly illustrated his spontaneous risk-taking nature. James had been with his current wife for ten years, they had been married for three years, and were both on their second marriages. Most people would describe them as very different; James describes himself as a flamboyant sales person whereas his wife is a software engineer.
He had become tired with the marriage and happened to meet someone else through work. Because he didn’t want an affair, he decided very quickly to leave his wife – he describes it as a snap decision – and moved in with his new partner. At first he enjoyed the new situation as it was pleasant and amicable. However, he found that his lifestyle had suddenly changed dramatically from having no children, being affluent, being able to go on holiday whenever he wanted, to a situation that brought many more responsibilities and considerations with it as his new partner had two children and a dog. In fact, his neighbour described it as having a ‘reverse mid-life crisis’. And so began a period of turmoil for James, evidenced by spontaneous and changeable decision-making. After just one week with his new partner he began to have doubts – so much so that he agreed to go to marriage guidance counselling with his wife and after just one session he immediately agreed to go back to his wife. Then his new partner demanded he make a decision and choose between them and this resulted in him returning to her. He stayed in his new ‘family’ for two weeks at which point his wife delivered an ultimatum. Within 12 hours he made up his mind to go back to his wife and that is where he is now.
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