Summer 2009 Vol. 19, No. 2 Research Edition
On July 22, 2009, Robert J. Barnhart joined MAPS Board of Directors, replacing Marybeth Home, who has been on the board since 1986. Robert has been a longtime MAPS member and has been one of the primary funders of our Swiss LSD study as well as numerous other MAPS projects. Robert spends most of his time with his family. He says that the wisdom, love, and compassion that he learned through taking psychedelics has allowed him to make his four-year-old daughter the primary focus of his energy.
Born in Houston, Texas, Robert studied comparative religions at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Through peak psychedelic experiences as a teenager, he became interested in beliefs that every living thing is part of one consciousness that is manifesting itself as individual beings. “I found it fascinating that ancient texts from Catholic mystics read as if the person had had a mind-opening psychedelic experience. Then I would see similar themes across all the religions.”
In his early 30s, Robert directed most of his assets away from the petroleum industry and now continues to work to relocate them into socially and environmentally conscious investments. With an understanding that was highlighted by positive affirmations with nature while on psychedelics, he wishes to support organizations that will leave the world healthy and livable for his children and grandchildren.
Robert is currently working on a documentary project about psychedelic psychotherapy that is intended to educate those who have not used psychedelics about their positive attributes. He is thrilled to be on the Board of Directors and thinks that all of the folks involved with MAPS are doing fantastic and ineffably important work.
