SALT conversations are "Up in the Sky".... not

[Lakshmi Venkatraman]

I am a Co Investigator in a NIHR funded international multisite research project "PIECEs" to improve lives of people with psychosis.  In this project we are testing the effectiveness of a low cost intervention DIALOG+ to structure conversations between clinicians and patients. We are also strengthening communities to support people with psychosis using various methodologies like Theatre of the Oppressed and SALT based workshops with stakeholders. So the team and I have embarked on a journey to understand SALT as it is not something we were exposed to earlier. Ms Rituu B Nanda and Professor Kausar Khan. The training has been exciting most of the time but has also been challenging at others. Trying to figure out how we can use SALT to/p>

When I started my first SALT conversation, I was trying very hard to stick to the brief I was given “Ask the person what they were proud of in their life either in personal or professional life”. So I made it my goal to  learn of the proud moment for the person who was talking to me. Not surprisingly I had identified a person who was too humble who did not feel proud of anything in particular in his life . I was initially stuck but I managed to point out something he was doing that he should be proud of.   I kept trying this with a couple of more people . I learnt about the person but I stopped there.  I knew something was not right but as I started understanding SALT more , I recognised that SALT has more to offer.  I needed to use SALT to learn from the person in front of me. This liberated me and I understood that SALT is a technique to achieve a goal and not an end point in itself.

 Supervision and regular conversations amongst my colleagues has allowed me to understand SALT better and I know that SALT can become a powerful tool if I use it right. I have now tried it with a caregiver, a colleague even my husband!! Am I now a confident SALT facilitator? No! And as Rituu keeps saying, no one is an expert but the most important thing is to keep practising and keep learning. I am still learning but I know that I will get “SALTY” along the way.

[Rituu B. Nanda]

This may interest you a facilitator I worked with on patient led approach to NCDs, its in Hindi

[Rituu B. Nanda]

Great insights, humbled to work with you dear Dr Lakshmi. 

SALT conversation, the process itself, being in that moment of deep connection draws me to SALT