No One-Size-Fits-All: Critical Narrative Intervention and Archeology of Self as Anti-Racist and Anti-Colonial Practices in Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors

Abstract

Health education and research has historically relied on partnerships between institutions that focus on prescribing interventions rather than working with communities to identify and address systemic violence and oppression as root causes of health inequity. This perpetuates harmful colonial paradigms in health education. We present an autoethnographic perspective of our experiences as Black women with Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors to reexamine harmful assumptions and practices underpinning the field. Through digital storytelling, a qualitative research method, we explore Critical Narrative Intervention (CNI) and the Archeology of Self (AOS) as key methodological frameworks in decolonizing health education. Using our experiences of navigating complex mental health education and care, we highlight CNI and AOS as creative, asset-based, narrative, and participatory approaches to addressing health inequity and promoting an anti-colonist and anti-racist public health paradigm. We call practitioners to explore these methodologies in reimagining how we engage with diverse, historically excluded communities, while critically interrogating our own biases as we move toward equitable partnerships and caring relationships.