Curium Facts - Periodic Table of the Elements

Curium Facts - Periodic Table of the Elements Periodic Table of the Elements Curium  Basic Facts Atomic Number: 96 Symbol: Cm Atomic Weight: 247.0703 Discovery: G.T.Seaborg, R.A.James, A.Ghiorso, 1944 (United States) Electron Configuration: [Rn] 5f7 6d1 7s2 Curium Physical Data Atomic Weight: 247.0703 Element Classification: Radioactive Rare Earth Element (Actinide Series) Name Origin: Named in honor of Pierre and Marie Curie. Density (g/cc): 13.51 Melting Point (K): 1340 Appearance: silvery, malleable, synthetic radioactive metal Atomic Radius (pm): 299 Atomic Volume (cc/mol): 18.28 Pauling Negativity Number: 1.3 First Ionizing Energy (kJ/mol): (580) Oxidation States: 4, 3 References: Los Alamos National Laboratory (2001), Crescent Chemical Company (2001), Langes Handbook of Chemistry (1952), CRC Handbook of Chemistry Physics (18th Ed.) Return to the Periodic Table Chemistry Encyclopedia

Implementation of Information System at Oman Company LLC Essay

Implementation of Information System at Oman Company LLC - Essay Example The essay "Implementation of Information System at Oman Company LLC" talks about the implementation of the information system at Oman Refineries and Petrochemicals Company LLC. It is a limited liability Company established vide the Royal Decree dated 23 September 2007 which stipulated the merger of Sohar Refinery Company LLC into Oman Refinery Company LLC. Twenty four years after the commissioning of the first Refinery in Oman, Sohar Refinery was commissioned in 2006 with a capacity of 116,000 bpd. Sohar Refinery was built with state-of-the-art technology to process the feedstock of long residue that is produced at MAF Refinery and blended with crude oil.The Government of Oman, represented by the Ministry of Finance, owns 75% of the Company’s shares, while the Oman Oil Company owns 25%. ORPC will continue to provide quality services and products, and with the two locations, it will take full advantage of the synergies and combined experiences in the business to benefit its cus tomers and all stakeholders.The Oman Oil Company has decided to update the traditional processing of the business operation. Here the business of the Oman Oil Company wants to establish better and effective technology regarding the management of the overall processing of the business information. Oman Oil Company has decided to establish and initiate the project of the Information system at the corporate processing plants. The main objective is to plan and manage the project in a way that the overall project turned out to be a success.

What are the causes of organisational change and is organisational Essay

What are the causes of organisational change and is organisational change necessarily good - Essay Example In addition, organization has to make adjustments because of changes that are happening. It is pointed out above that technological change has prompted individuals, firms and other users to adapt it. Discussion in the next paragraphs relates to causes of organizational changes and causes of success and failure of organizational change. Thereafter, the significant of organizational changes is also reviewed. Halkos and Bousinakis (2012) acknowledge that the change of organization is necessary for them to move closer to larger markets. Change is also important for organization to meet the demands of internal and external business surroundings. Effective change can make a company more competitive and expand its market share. According to the authors, organisational change is necessity brought forward by management so as to attain the requirements of a larger social-economic environment, with the use of organizational structures, behaviours and process targeting growth and advancement of the company. Modern organization have to embrace changes as pointed earlier above, technology has prompted many organisations to change. Adaptation and employment of new technologies is significant for any organisation that has to apply new materials, products, methods and processes. Additionally, the workers of the firm have to adapt to changes and update their skills every day. Furthermore, mergers, acquisition, globalization can make the organization to change. There are other factors such as social and political factors; these factors can make organisation change its processes. Some people have doubts regarding organisational change, however, Burnes and Jackson (2011) point out that the change is important in the current world. Adaptation to changes according to the authors makes an organisation survive for a longer time. Organisational change is vital it is quite difficult to achieve. This is because some

Cyber Security Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cyber Security - Assignment Example This aspect that a person from one end of the world can access information from far makes cyberspace a threat to the nation, organization or individual. The fact is that cyber attackers can launch cyber-attacks in a place far from the organization they are attacking (Schiller, 2010). It is true that cyber security is a challenge need to be addressed by the government. In addition, cyber-attacks have increased in the last few years prompting the government and policymakers to look for ways of mitigating the problem. Cyber-attacks require a government intervention because it is not possible for a small organization to tackle such problem. The U.S. is one among many advanced economies that have had their corporations cyber-attacked by culprits operating in other countries (Bajaj, 2012). Some cyber-attacks is said to have been instigated by some countries. This follows a cyber-security breach that was witnessed recently by Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. The United States government alleged that North Korea was behind the attack. Based on such case and many others that have occurred previously, it is true that the governments need to help in tackling cyber-attacks (Paletta & Nissenbaum, 2015). In conclusion, Cyber Security is a twenty-first-century problem that is increasing and, as a result, many companies are losing their assets. Cyber-attacks are also seen as a weapon used by states against other countries. As such, a state is required to help in tackling cyber security problem because they have all the resources. Paletta D. & Nissenbaum D. (2015). Debate Deepens Over Response to Cyberattacks. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from

Why Religion Is Important To A Society Philosophy Essay

Why Religion Is Important To A Society Philosophy Essay Our moral convictions precede us as we find ourselves lamenting a loss or potential loss of something important. How we define what is and is not important is solely dependent upon how choose to grant entities significances and phase out related societal detriments said entities may pose. We have widespread traditions to uphold, which is the consensus throughout all of civilization. Though, the reach and continuity of the upholding remains considerably controversial. The religious-those who have willfully been indoctrinated, mostly-stand as major proponents of the aforementioned conundrum. They bring an matched sense of ambiguity to the table in regards to what we reserve strictly for a sentimental purpose over scientific purpose. A massive case in which this is highly evident is of the Kennewick Man. The Kennewick man dispute raised a bunch of issues regarding how religions have politics and science hogtied to a remarkably unavoidable pillar of contempt. It is a case in which the validity of scientific endeavor is challenged by the sacredness of religious conviction, and as a result of that turmoil, politics were compromised. -The Back Story What is important about the Kennewick Man situation is that among the most obvious problems regarding science and politics is the problem of ranking religious importance in a society. Surely, we can see that religion plays a big role in terms of freedom, but the reason for that is unclear. However, we can draw a number of conclusions in this regard which may rid some of the confusion involved. The Kennewick Man issue stems from the findings of the skeleton of a buried body dubbed the Ancient One on July 1996 below the surface of Lake Washington by two men. The remains instantly sparked controversy. It so happened that the skeleton was regarded as religiously bound in some way, which made it largely a religious issue. There were claims made by Indian tribes, local officials, and some members of the scientific community regarding ownership of the skeleton because of the controversy. As a result of the attention, in March of 1998, the department of Interior and National Park Service agreed to assist the COE in resolving some of the issues related to the Federal case (NPS, 2004) that was filed in accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGRA). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were the owners of the land in which the remains of the Kennewick Man were found, so they were responsible for the findings. Therefore, they were targeted by those pushing for the bodys protection using the NAGRA. Naturally, there was a need for investigation, so scientists got involved and conducted research on the remains. For this operation, the Department of the Interior and National Park Service and the Corps of Engineers collaborated. Roughly eighteen highly referenced scholars and scientists conducted a variety of historical and scientific examinations, analyses, and studies. (NPS, 2004) This took place between 1998 and 2004 as the legal proceedings picked up in depth. According to the National Park Service (NPS), the Kennewick skeleton was physically examined, measured, and recorded using current and standard scientific methods and techniques. Sediments adhering to the bones and trapped within the bone cavities were described and analyzed for similarity with the soil sediments in the vicinity of the discovery of the skeletal remains. The stone projectile point embedded in the skeletons pelvis was described and analyzed. These findings were relevant to understanding the origins of the skeleton because they shed a near-full-on light of the reason the skeleton was there. Accordingly, the bones were sampled in order to confirm the ancient date for the remains, according to the report from the NPS. The report claimed that research had yielded five major scientific reports as a result of the separate experiments and tests performed by the researchers. These operations had been drastically exaggerated by the media during the time of the legal issues amid the controversy, with ignorance towards the actual reason for the scientific investigation. Essentially, the media missed the fact that the research had to be conducted because the origin of the man was up for dispute, which was a large piece of the legal issues following its discovery. It turned out that the remains were 9,300 years old, according to the research, which still rolls on into the late 2012. According to anthropologist Douglas Owsley, the conclusion of the age of the remains is important in the quest to understand where the now-famous Paleoamerican came from and who his descendants might be. In October of 2011, Owsley felt that it was extremely important to have a meeting with the Native American tribes of the area regarding the remains and the research regarding the remains because, according to him, [the Columbia Basin, where the remains were found], its their homeland territory, and they feel deep connections and roots. [He] felt it of vital important that [he] have a [face-to-face meeting and give them an overview as to what the scientific evidence was telling us. (Murphy, 2012) -Possible Reasoning for Religious Conviction Using Evo-bio Evidence Religious importance is no shallow issue in the case of the Kennewick man. A fact of relevance to that point is that humans have a considerable obligation to religion due to their biological makeup. The conviction towards the Kennewick man is, therefore, unsurprising since the discovery of the remains were inevitably controversial with the revelation of its Native American roots. We find that this obligation-the religious valuation-is innate to our neurological profiles. Particularly, we find that our brains have developed to process environments and problems within those environments with such an imagination that religion can come about at any moment. In order to understand how religion plays a role in society, we first need to understand why humans find certain objects sacred. For this, we can look at the development of the neo cortex in the brain. The neo cortex is responsible for almost all of which we process logically. As we rationalize, the neo cortex is providing the instructions much of the rest of the brain uses to compute one or more generalities. In the case of the Kennewick man, Native Americans extend their hand of conviction towards the remains and they and the remains combined stand as a good reason to look first how religion came about in the biological evolution of human beings. According to Robin Dunbar of the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Oxford, religion is adaptive. According to her, nothing as costly as religion could possibly be maladaptation or a mere by-product. She explored the significance of religion by evolutionary anthropologic findings in scientific research. She found that from we have discovered about the biological significance and origin of religion, there are four functions of religion: it 1) provides an explanation (provisional, however) for the complexities of the world; 2) causes psychological well-being, more or less; 3) triggers socialization; and finally, 4) it enforces conformity, which is actually a key characteristic of religion that we see vividly throughout the case of the Kennewick man. Since we have evolved to solve biological problems, part of our sophistication as organisms is structural, social belief systems. According to Dunbar, those who are actively religious usually live longer, are more content/happier, are less stressed, suffer fewer psychological problems, and recover faster from surgery. Dunbar claimed (with evidence) that multi-level social systems are common in mammals and that when sociality involves an implicit social contract, fitness accrues at the level of the individual, but through benefits generated by the ground. In other words, the combined conformity of each socialite equates to more efficient human beings and heightened, beneficial human instinctiveness. Dunbar, as other scientists have proposed, harped on the social brain hypothesis. According to the hypothesis, religious thought is attributed to brain sizes in primates. It has been reasoned that the size of the neo cortex is inversely relational to the magnitude or involvement in and of religious thought. It is also logical to conclude that the size of social groups are greatly based on the size of the neocortex. According to Dunbar, group size [and many aspects of smart behavior] are a function of neocortex volume. This is conspicuously evident in primate societies. This finding contributes to the fact that all primate societies are based on an implicit social contract, which is essentially cooperation. -Arguments Against Scientific Proceedings -Arguments For Scientific Proceedings Arguments against the ownership of the Kennewick mans remains by those other than the Native American tribes are significantly touch to come by. This is mainly because the Native Americans have almost no objective base for an argument against it. Accordingly, the Native Americans had absolutely no case against those who wanted to do research on the Kennewick man because the findings regarding the specific details of the remains are ambiguous. Therefore, the Native Americans cannot argue that the remains have tribal relevance. The courts concluded this and denied the Native Americans ownership rights over the remains. From there, the scientists were free to do as much research as they felt they needed to do without the consent of the litigating group of tribesmen (Doughton, 2006). The core reason for the scientific proceedings is quite common. In essence, the research would yield a clearer look into our existence as organisms, even sufficing as clearing up confusions regarding terrain and even territories. According to researchers, the North American and South American continents were once empty of people. Contrary to Indian religious beliefs that they have been here since the beginning of time, it is a fact that all humans, including the ancestors to modern Indians, came from Eurasia. (Jantz, 2005) The remains of the Kennewick man actually extends this fact tremendously by giving scientists and the public glimpses of the variety of people who were [in North America] prior to modern Indians. (Jantz, 2005) The study of the Kennewick man helps us figure out how humans spread throughout this region. The studies also show how we have adapted to changing weather conditions (in the most drastic of the sense) and regional obscenities having to do with other animals, food shortages and excess, and other elements. These discoveries have clear applications to our modern world. -How The Scientific Proceedings Are Important -How the Social Proceedings Are Important The question of what makes something important to a society is raised with the scientific proceedings and religion-related controversy. It is probably most wise to consider economic impact religion has in a society since religion has had a history of swaying governmental politics, particularly in judicial issues. However, by merely examining that our past scientific proceedings have constructed what we now know as survival mechanisms, we can rationally conclude that anything resulting from experimentation and deep analysis plays a role in the sustenance of human life. On the other hand, the metaphysical speculation involved in religion gives way to scientific dealings, which is why issues like the Kennewick man are considerably important. If the Native Americans had not disputed the issue, such research performed on the Kennewick man may not have been done, especially within the 2-year span (1998) that it took to file the suit and make a federal case out of it. -Conclusion Sum up the importance of Religion in Society Relate the Kennewick man to the sum What is apparent about the Kennewick man is that the remains held significant anthropological research data. Moreover, it sparked enough controversy to cause rapid development in the science world. It is that sort of ingenuity that religion causes, which makes religion one of the most important aspects of society-at least, this is the case for now, until we figure out how to spark research interest without subjective takes on reality. That said, we can rightfully blame doctrines such as religions as relevant to the solutions we need in order to survive as an adapting species. Without imaginative ideas and emotional charges, we are left with brute logic, which has its constraints and is never consistently sound, as far as we have come to know as experimenters. Therefore, we owe religion the respect it deserves as a sparker of new ideas and new efforts. Without it, our ideas remain unchallenged, and without challenge, we fact a stifled perspective.

Essay --

Trends The Trend of the population growth of Nigeria is and will be influenced by the Fertility and Birth rates, Mortality or Death rates, and the Demographic Features. The main key to decelerating the rate of population growth would be a sharp decline in the fertility rate, which is defined as the average number of children a woman will bear in her life time. The National Population Commission stated that, â€Å"the total fertility rate(TFR) in Nigeria is 5.7, this means that at current fertility levels, the average Nigerian woman who is at the beginning of her childbearing years will give birth to 5.7 children by the end of her lifetime† (2002). Figure 2/Nigeria's growing Crude Birth Rate. Source: World Development Indicators (WDI), October 2013. Figure 2 is displaying the growing birth rate of Nigeria and its percentage changes from the year 2001 to the year 2011. The natality rate in population ecology is the scientific term for birth rate. The birth rate; crude (per 1000 people) in Nigeria was last measured in 2011 at 41.8. Fertility has been relatively high in Nigeria for several years. Feyisetan & Bankole (2007) enlightened that, â€Å"the fertility hindering effect of contraception can be expected to increase as the levels of contraception use increases. Also the modern methods has increased since the early eighties. The impact of abortion on fertility has been documented†. However, data on abortion are very scanty in Nigeria because the procedure is illegal. The other factors that affect the fertility course in Nigeria is education of women and female employment. The total fertility rate in Nigeria was 5.5 as of 2008 to a 5.5 in 2013. Nigeria population is increasing mostly due to the result of the first factor... ...efs and practices in Nigeria’s culture- such as early marriages, male children an polygamy- were the main reason for Nigeria’s rapid population growth. Nigeria is free from natural disasters like typhoons and is also oil-rich, meaning that there has been a lot of migration from people of other countries; overpopulating Nigeria in the process. A trend in the population growth in Nigeria is the fertility rate of the average woman. The average woman gives birth to 5.7 children on average. The fertility rate plays a key role in population growth. The future of population growth could lead to more consumers than producers in the country, making it difficult more the economy to progress with so many mouths to feed. All in all, Nigeria has the potential to be a powerful economy, whether it can achieve that will depend on the maintenance of the population in the future. â€Æ'

Psychoanalysis and the Treatment of Drug Addiction Essay

Drug addiction persists to present major challenge to serving psychoanalysts. There are different techniques used to treat drug addiction however this paper mainly discusses psychoanalysis as a mode of treatment for drug addiction. Even though media hype regarding the issue of drug addiction has augmented in the last few years, there has not been sufficient stress on different methods used to deal with it. Therapists, educationist, and the common public require information on the subject of treatment methods and means that are accessible to them. Gradually more, experienced psychoanalysts are getting employed in drug addiction programs (Hosie, West, & Mackey, 1997). In order to be successful, they should be aware of different methods used in drug addiction treatment and try to incorporate them into their daily practice and job. People who are in the field of drug addiction treatment, nonetheless, must try to have clear idea about using different methods of treatment (Schonfeld & Morosko, 1997). Among the various modalities used to treat drug addiction are the â€Å"twelve-step program† of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), professional counselling and psychiatric care, family systems therapy, and therapeutic community treatment. In the past, these approaches have often been at odds with one another (Minkoff, 1995). Some of the debates have involved whether drug addiction is a disease in and of itself or is reflective of some underlying psychopathology. The proponents of the disease model have included AA (1995) supporters, who have tended to focus on abstinence as a way of controlling the disease. Adherents to the psychopathology model have mainly been mental health professionals who have advocated psychiatric and professional counselling treatment. Yeager, DiGiuseppe, Olsen, Lewis, and Alberti (1997) noted that therapeutic community treatment has become increasingly popular because traditional and more individually oriented psychiatric modalities have not been very effective. They echoed the argument made by Vaillant (1975) that clients suffering from drug addiction need milieu and group involvement with their peers. External control, containment, and structure from milieu-oriented treatment are needed before meaningful psychotherapy can begin. Stanton and Todd (2000) agreed that peer influence can play a role in less serious drug addiction problems however that long-term drug addiction generally has its origins in adolescence and that â€Å"serious drug abuse is predominantly a family phenomenon† (p. 8). They argued that family therapy is therefore the logical treatment of choice. Psychoanalysis And Drug Addiction To be exact, severe drug addiction is considered as being motivated by contradictory and unsettled relational kinematicsthat drawn from the premature systematizing relations in a individuals lives. As far as drug addiction is concerned, the terms of this disagreement discover solid look in distinguishing actions of using drugs that provide to spread it with the help of the mutual results of reinforcement and disguise. The objective of treatment is for patient and psychoanalyst to uncover the constituents of the relational ties that are embedded in the drug use, to reformulate these forces in figurative expressions, and tore-check them in the kinematics of the change, next to prospects for latest exchange. Seen this way, the treatment requirements of drug users can finely be convened by psychoanalysis, improved by other methods essential for dealing with addiction. In the past drug addiction has been shut out from psychoanalysis and this method of treatment, clearly in its insinuation, might appear merely to validate that standing. Doing psychoanalysis treatment of drug users, comparing with other treatment methods, educates awareness on these desire states and uses replacement as a remedial instrument. No matter what the stress of the theory or character of the foundation, every analysis of addictive disorder that represent on entity associations tacitly contribute to a common principle: that the action of drug use comes into view as a result of desire. Whilst created by a lot of dependent variables, an operation of severe drug use, if intra-psychically inspected, at all times corresponds to an attempt to bring about inner alteration, or outside reaction, in a exacting, approved method. Almond (1997) has described desire as â€Å"a personal condition—a feeling of total control or power—that the person endeavours to bring about with his action and/or fantasy† (p. 3). By these stipulations, an action of excessive drug use signifies a fundamental, desire condition and is a means to implement it, whether with regard to effects desired in the self or others in the outside world. Rik Loose discussed in his book â€Å"The Subject of Addiction† that psychoanalysis and addiction are counterparts of the world of science and techniques. Therefore, since, the logical dialogue centers on the issue and the drug user’s relationship to his reason of desire. In an intelligent approach, Rik Loose depicts the reason of globalization that requires our times and counters to it as a organization governed by desire and ideals. (Loose, 2002) Psychoanalysts who work with drug users know that the act of drug use is an indicative result of a procedure of previous changes. The language of diversity, acknowledged as a modern construction for intellect, allows us to spot the drug user as careworn into specific states of mind— comprising of particular influence, feelings regarding the person himself and others, feelings concerning the world—that augment the desires and cravings that are confined and apparently recognized in typical action of drug use. One might also say that, for a given drug consumer, the action of using the drug provides to intrepidly set the limits of a basic state of oneself. In fact, the preliminary investigative mission with the drug user comprises of extricating the user from attraction with the drug in order to divert the user in its place in the self-state that portends it. Astonishingly, the standing of desire in the addiction is for the most part uncared for in drug treatment. Drug users in this kind of situations are frequently encouraged to talk to other recuperating fellows when they believe themselves to be caught up in desire to take in drug. (Loose, 2002) This suggestion— regularly wielded by twelve-step companionship also, in the shape of a status offer to talk to one’s supporter every time sensing the urge to take drug—is evidently well planned (and, no doubt, useful at times). On the other hand this type of counselling is sightless to the internal truth of the state of desire that not just impels substance users presumptuous in their use of drugs, nevertheless in addition throw away understanding of other individuals in their lives to the periphery of their brain. Moreover, still as conventional treatment programs dedicate significant consideration to the issue of reversion— enlightening drug users in relation to surroundings stimuli and inner feelings (e. g. depression, loneliness) that could encourage desires to use drugs—they pay no attention to the desire aver that the course of reversion usually serve to perform. Due to this rationale, psychoanalysis has a lot to proffer the severe drug user: whilst the majority of drug treatments look forward to putting an end to drug addicting behaviour, the psychoanalytic attempt would take in this objective and stretch further to investigate the desire state that uncovers end result in drug use and in other prototypes of actions in his or her life. In effect, the methodical approach would be to treat the person’s drug use nevertheless look for to disengage such a symptomatic outburst from the original self-state, which has required to be conserved for its background and significance to the person and, for that basis, deserve consideration (Bromberg, 1998). â€Å"transformation come in an analysis,† Winnicott (1960) wrote, â€Å"when the traumatic factors enter the psycho-analytic material in the patient’s own way, and within the patient’s desire† (p. 37). This regulatory statement can also be functional to remedial work with drug users, whose desire intend, usually set free â€Å"out there,† requirement to be completely greeted into the methodical exchange. In fact, it is from the point of view of the functioning coalition— nevertheless effectively realizes with a drug user—that the analyst may sense another exchange transpiring in the transference. In it, the analyst is excluded from all events eventuating in the patient’s drug use and is left to feel helpless. Not only is the patient’s move to a state of emotional cut-off a marker of desire, so is the analyst’s helpless state. (Loose, 2002) For it is these feelings of helplessness in the analyst that point to the history of pain or trauma in the patient that may have showed the way to the user’s need for desire to start with, and to such severity. Nonetheless, certain new trends in investigative way and the significance of a relational viewpoint in understanding drug use, the ability of psychoanalysts, amplified by understanding of addiction, can be of utmost advantage to them. That is why a relational model of psychoanalytically based treatment has significance for severe drugs users. This statement may seem surprising on two accounts: psychoanalysis has often been considered useless for active drug users, and drug users have often been judged unsuitable for psychoanalysis. (Loose, 2002) Both assumptions are false, though accepted as truths in the mental health and drug addiction treatment worlds. Recent changes that have taken place in the understanding of the psychoanalytic process make relationally informed psychoanalysis an ideal therapeutic venue for drug users. These shifts in psychoanalysis have reversed its previous lack of fit for drug addiction. Any Psychoanalyst who has spent time working with drug users has heard, first-hand, accounts of the disrepute of psychoanalysis from the standpoint of addicted patients. (Loose, 2002) The traditional analytic stance that emphasized observation smacked of passivity to drug users, and the priority given to aetiology over symptoms often left patients’ drinking and drug use unattended to. However contemporary psychoanalysis has shifted its style of investigation; as Mitchell (1997) stated, it has moved away from reliance on interpretation and insight as the primary tools for achieving therapeutic change. Rather, psychoanalysis today places emphasis on an analyst’s ability to enter into a patient’s dynamics, mobilized in transference–counter transference form; together with the patient to arrive at an understanding of these experiences; and, in the process, to find new forms of relating for the patient to trust, in the place of old, constraining patterns (Mitchell, 1997; Bromberg, 1998). In short, today’s psychoanalyst is every bit an engaged participant. How does this development serve the substance-using patient? The drug user tends to be a do-er and act-er, and, on technical grounds alone, needs an active approach to feel meaningfully engaged, even adequately â€Å"gripped† by the therapeutic process. However, on another level, it is precisely the drug user’s recourse to action to express conflicting relational needs that is the target of treatment. (Loose, 2002) Reliance on action is a cornerstone of the drug user’s characterologic makeup (Wurmser, 1977, 1978). It is typically this reliance that has earned him disfavour with psychoanalysts, whose work depends so on reflection and delay. Action serves many purposes for the drug user, however it is usually its defensive function that has been highlighted by theorists. In this view, as articulated by Wurmser, action gives the drug user a powerful alternative to, or, more accurately, means of flight from, painful affects and inadequate tools of symbolic expression. Drug users are notable for limitations in their symbolic functioning: Wurmser termed their difficulties â€Å"hypo-symbolization,† describing deficits that range from a specific inability to recognize and label feelings to a more sweeping failure to engage in fantasy or exploration of their inner lives at all. In such a view, again elaborated by Wurmser, action serves as a special form of externalization, offering the person its magical, problem solving properties and the appearance of narcissistic control. However if, instead of emphasizing its defensive role, we view action as the vehicle drug users have for communicating un-symbolized experience, then it is to their actions we must look for the initial outlines of their conflicts. Drug use is then far from unwelcome in undertaking analytic treatment of a person taking drugs. It is the signature act of such a patient and, as such, contains the components of his unconscious and as yet un-symbolized life; it is the starting point of treatment. The intended course of that treatment would then be for analyst and patient to begin to uncover the relational deadlock embedded in the drug use. (Loose, 2002) Their aim is to discover that deadlock anew in the kinematicsof the transference, often at first still involving instances of drug use, and eventually to locate it within the organizing relationships of the patient’s early life, ultimately replayed and addressed free of reference to drugs, within the experience of the treatment relationship. In other words, the aim of therapeutic action would be to track, and deconstruct, the symptom from its extra-psychic form, concretized in drug use, to its intra-psychic life in the patient’s object relations (Boesky, 2000). It is here that the needs of the person consuming drug and the current state of psychoanalytic practice converge. Enactments, whereby patients draw their analysts into jointly realizing fantasized aspects of their object relations, play a recognized role in analytic practice today. Though theorists of various schools differ in their understanding of enactments, view of the analyst’s role, and sense of their therapeutic value, there is general agreement in the field that enactments are inevitable manifestations of transference–counter-transference forces at work in the analytic process (Ellman and Moskowitz, 1998). In relational theory, in particular, enactments are regarded not only as unavoidable, however also as the central medium of the work. They are the means through which patient and analyst are afforded the opportunity to revive old relational patterns jointly, as well as to reopen them to observation, understanding, and possibilities for change within the analytic relationship (Mitchell, 1997; Bromberg, 1998). By placing enactment at the heart of analytic work, relational practitioners have opened the door of psychoanalysis to substance using patients. This is so for several reasons: first, enactments provide drug users with a mode of communication tailor made to their needs to actualize, rather than reflect on, inner experience (Boesky, 2000). More important, enactments are a conduit for experience whose transitional properties uniquely serve the drug user—offering not only a bridge between the patient’s symptomatic behaviour outside the consulting room to his conduct within the treatment, however also, more generally, a bridge between action and meaning, drug and object, act of drug use and underlying relational needs. In theory and approach, then, the relational model provides the basis for the desired course of treatment for drug users. To be sure, no treatment of drug addiction could be effective by attending to the relational underpinnings of drug use alone. Severe drug use is a dangerous and potentially life-threatening problem; however derived, it nonetheless is sustained by the powerful pharmacological effects of drugs and the operation of the laws of conditioning on people’s behaviour. (Loose, 2002) Any Psychoanalyst working with a person taking drug must have a working knowledge of a range of ancillary treatment modalities commonly needed during the course of their treatment. Such approaches include use of cognitive-behavioural interventions, referrals to residential or intensive outpatient programs, support for participation in 12-step programs, use of toxicology tests, and use of pharmaco-therapies designed to counteract or inhibit drug effects (for example, disulfiram for alcoholics, naltrexone for opiate addicts). Purely speaking, then, any treatment of active drug user is, by force, integrative in practice, if, ultimately, psychoanalytic in design. However, if appropriately used, such supplementary therapies do not necessarily compromise the analytic task; in fact, it is my argument that the particular tools summoned during the course of any one patient’s treatment are—like his drug use—uniquely customized to fit his relational needs and are therefore best understood within a psychoanalytic framework.