The Australian Boomerang Effect in Therapy

An early version of a boomerang is a thrown tool designed to be returned to
the thrower used by indigenous Australians for hunting.

If you have ever thrown or read about an Australian boomerang you probably aware it’s coming back to you, and you need to be prepared to catch or duck.

It’s the same with our thoughts or what we say!

 In a phrase: “Whatever you focus on, you attract into your life .”

Simply put, we attract into our lives the result of what we are thinking, saying, seeing.

 It doesn’t matter what the unconscious part of the mind receives from thought, whether negative or positive. It simply receives the message, accepts the message, and delivers the result in the form of an emotional response that mirrors the thought. This is called the Universal Law of Attraction.

 I call it the “Boomerang Effect.”

During my pre-talk Hypnosis session, I brandish a real boomerang similar to the picture on this blog as a reminder to be careful in avoiding negative thought and focus on positive thought.

My experience is that the client starts to say, “Oh, that’s a boomerang.” At the start, they tend to use it in a negative context. Then they may say: “Oh. That’s a good boomerang.” (and they usually laugh).

As I was writing this today, I was thinking of the Biblical passage: “What you Sow, so shall you Reap.” There you go, Boomerang! Now, the word boomerang is in the modern lexicon.

Do consider using the concept of the boomerang during self-talk and conversation with others. I’d be interested in your feedback on overcoming the habit of negative thinking using the boomerang effect?

Peter R. Dufour
peterdufour@comcast.net
541 619 4469