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Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

tug on

English answer:

draw on, exploit

Added to glossary by Yvonne Gallagher
Mar 27 12:32
8 mos ago
45 viewers *
English term

tug on

English Social Sciences General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters treatment of dissociative disorders and PTSD
Dear colleagues, I’m not sure about the meaning of “tug on” in the sentence “tugging on the associable aspects of otherwise blocked emotional experience “ taken from a text about the treatment of dissociative disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Might “tug on” mean something along the lines of: “use (associable aspects) as a way/a starting point to access (otherwise blocked emotional experience)? The phrase is right at the end of the following passage
Thank you so much for your help!
******************

If a therapist asked me what kinds of images were popping up, and I told them it was an image of my mother, then without asking me for any narrative content, I could be engaged on an imagistic level to create associative links to otherwise isolated (dissociatively organized) material. “Okay, Rich, you said you had an image of your mother, right? Yes, good. Can you focus on that image please? Can you imagine the image on a TV screen? Good. Can you put the TV into split image mode and put your mother over on one side, please? Which side is she on? Good. Right. Okay, now on the left side pull up any other image of your mother that comes to mind and tell me what you see when you are ready, please.” Treating the image as a sensory target, the patient stays oriented to the original image while pulling numerous other mother images from the past. Each pulled image has associative links, emotional and cognitive, even if they are consciously unknown to Rich. Within a day or so, this review of images will produce a raft of associations. (...) This is similar to a technique I call “interior decorating,” which is a review of a childhood home. The associations come quickly after an initial delay of a day or so. Knowing that emotional life is divided up into affective and embodied sensing dimensions allows me to focus my efforts on *** tugging on the associable aspects of otherwise blocked emotional experience ***..
Responses
4 +1 pull up/have recourse to make use of
5 +4 pull at/understand better/unravel
4 +2 tease out
4 draw sg. (grab, avail, etc.)
Change log

Apr 4, 2024 00:30: Yvonne Gallagher Created KOG entry

Discussion

haribert (asker) Apr 3:
Dear colleagues, here I am again... In his other book, the author draws a parallel with the concept of “priming”: he seems to use “associable aspects” to favor the emergence of a buried traumatic memory... So, I think he says "tug on" to mean that he uses “associable aspects" as a sort of "lever" or a "gateway": I guess "draw on" or "exploit" might be useful synonyms in this case. But surely also your other suggestions may be appropriate in other contexts: I'll take note of those, too!
Thank you very very much for your help!
haribert (asker) Apr 3:
Dear colleagues, I'm just reading another book by the same author to try to understand this concept... and it seems that he uses associable aspects - for instance, he asks a patient to remember in detail the house where she lived as a child - to activate or unlock memories of traumatic experiences that are still in implicit form (i.e. the patient is not explicitly aware of the traumatic event)... So it seems that "tug on" might mean "draw on", in the sense that "associable aspects" are a sort of gateway to traumatic memories... I'll read on a little bit...
In the meanwhile, thank you so much to all of you!

Responses

+1
19 mins
Selected

pull up/have recourse to make use of

basically means to make use of /pull up from memory/draw on the associable aspects of otherwise blocked emotional experience

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Note added at 22 mins (2024-03-27 12:54:13 GMT)
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oops a slash missing pull up/have recourse to/ make use of

Extract or Exploit could also be used




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Note added at 23 mins (2024-03-27 12:55:46 GMT)
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of course, in the context the -ing form of the verb would be used

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Note added at 7 days (2024-04-04 00:29:55 GMT) Post-grading
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Glad to have helped. And I believe this IS the meaning here
Note from asker:
Thank you so much, Yvonne, for your contribution! Actually your suggestion of "draw on" has made me think that the author might have used a synonym of "drawing on", since "draw" and "tug" has similar meanings in a non figurative sense (and in this case, also in a figurative one)...
Dear Yvonne, I agree with you! Hope your sister is feeling better now... Have a nice weekend!
Peer comment(s):
agree Lara Barnett : Draw on....
1 hr
Many thanks:-)
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you so much, Yvonne, for your help! Many many thanks also to all other colleagues: as I said in the Discussion, maybe "tug on" can have also other meanings in different contexts, but in this case, after reading some parts of a book by the same author, I think it means "draw on" or "exploit" in the sense of using associable aspects as a sort of "lever" or "gateway" to buried traumatic memories "
+4
16 mins

pull at/understand better/unravel

He means to focus his efforts on better understanding/unravelling the associable aspects of otherwise blocked (in contrast) emotional experience.
Note from asker:
Thank you so much, Diogo, for your contribution!
Peer comment(s):
agree Jennifer Levey : 'unravel'
22 mins
agree Clauwolf
25 mins
agree Chris Says Bye
26 mins
agree Mark Nathan
1 day 1 min
Something went wrong...
+2
38 mins

tease out

A synonym for 'tug on' in the ST context would be 'tease out':
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/tease-ou...

'to try to get information or understand a meaning that is hidden or not clear'
Note from asker:
Thank you so much, Jennifer, for your contribution!
Peer comment(s):
agree Chris Says Bye
4 mins
agree Edith Kelly
15 hrs
Something went wrong...
1 day 8 hrs

draw sg. (grab, avail, etc.)

Hello Haribert, you seem to be right. To 'tug' generally means to pull or jerk something with some force. Prepositions might slightly 8or dramatically) change change the meaning of a term:
1) ‘Tug’ is often used with 'at,' which can mean ‘to pull gently’ or ‘to pull repeatedly’ at something. Tugging at the sleeve implies trying to get someone's attention. Nad girls also tug at things in bed 😊 according to some lyrics.
2) 'Tug on' implies a more direct action, as ‘on’ is always more direct than ‘at’. Tugging on a rope suggests a firm grip to pull something heavy. (Also see the Collins entry linked below). And boys sometimes tug on something if there is no girl to tug at it :) - also according to some pop music, not my style.

The speaker wants to draw attention to something. Professional speakers/writers intentionally allow some room to associate, see: TUG tests (Timed Up and Go).

(You will certainly forgive me that I am not a native speaker of English.)

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Note added at 1 day 8 hrs (2024-03-28 20:37:41 GMT)
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(sorry for typos)
Example sentence:

Hoping that your creation encourages them to tug on an idea that they may not have considered before.

Reference:

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/tug-at-the-heartstrings

https://www.physio-pedia.com/Timed_Up_and_Go_Test_(TUG)

Note from asker:
Hi, Joszef, thank you so much for your contribution!
Something went wrong...
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