Postcard: Barcelona Dreams

Prof. Kris Anderson [psychology] journeyed to Barcelona as part of Reed’s faculty research exchange. Her visit to a residential treatment facility there taught her about the universality of the struggle to overcome addiction.

I spent almost two weeks in Spain in March 2024 as part of Reed’s new faculty research exchange program. I had an amazing time in Barcelona getting to know my exchange partner, Dr. Noemí Pereda from the University of Barcelona. In addition to research meetings and presenting my own work, I had the opportunity to see quite a bit of Barcelona (including Palau de la Música Catalana), visit with Reed students in Reed’s Barcelona Universities Program, and participate in the International Women’s Day March with members of Noemí’s lab. The most poignant part of my trip was a day spent at Projecte Home Catalunya, a residential treatment community for individuals living with addiction. As I wrote at that time, “While most of us did not share the same language, one thing was quite clear: The pain of addiction is universal, hope in recovery is the same everywhere, and the connection between people doing this work transcends culture.”