"The broom has only one point of attachment (unity is strength)." A collective and decolonial healing experience among nigerien MH providers in Niamey

Collective documents refer to records created during collective narrative practice. It’s a methodology which enables to link the stories of individuals in responding to trauma and hardships. They can result in narrative letters, certificates of competence, story genealogies, and more. The main purpose of these documents is to create a tangible record of emerging collective narratives, thereby enabling individuals and groups to reflect on them, recognizing skills and resources and keeping a generative connection with the stories they are co-constructing. In this work we present a collective document created by Nigerien mental health practitioners working in Niamey. During the narrative practice, we discussed the socio-professional experiences and challenges they encounter in Niger. Four key themes were discussed: the unfamiliarity of medical doctors with psychological sciences, the families’ and community’s refusal of the psychological professions, the daily struggles against economic and environmental challenges and the danger and threats in the context of war and violence. These themes are discussed according to traditional values and attributes, such as patience, perseverance, endurance, resilience, social cohesion, family support, greatness, mutual assistance, and love for work which are interwoven with traditions and narratives. Our contribution represents an invitation to adopt decolonial conversations in mental health practices. Through acknowledging the stories and challenges shared by Nigerien practitioners, we aim to amplifying marginalized voices and counteract colonial narratives that historically silenced the local ones. This choice reflects our commitment to dismantling lingering colonial influences within mental health paradigms, honouring local systems of meanings and heritages as fundamental for healing. We acknowledge the Nigerien practitioners’ collective resilience and resistance against colonial structures of power permeating their work. We believe that embracing collective narrative methodologies within research practice can significantly contribute to initiate a transformative change, fostering antioppressive, diverse, and mutualistic mental health practices.