Brent Van Dorsten PhD

Dr. Brent Van Dorsten is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in health psychology and behavioral medicine assessment and treatment at the Colorado Center for Behavioral Medicine. At the CCBM, Dr. Van Dorsten provides cognitive-behavioral assessments and treatments to a diverse patient population referred by physician specialists in Anesthesiology Pain Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Orthopedic/Spine, Primary Care, Neurology, and OBGYN among others. This clinical service includes assessment and treatment for pain and functional limitations, physical injury and delayed recovery, assisting physicians in the management of patients on long-term opioids, and pre-surgical behavioral assessments for patients being considered for spine surgeries, implantable spinal cord stimulators, and medication pumps.

Prior to opening the Colorado Center for Behavioral Medicine in 2012, Dr. Van Dorsten was an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in the Departments of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Orthopedics/Spine Center, and Anesthesiology Pain Medicine for over 23 years. He is certified with a variety of national credentialing services including the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology and is a Life Fellow of both the Society of Behavioral Medicine and the American College of Forensic Examiners.

He currently holds or has recently held Executive Board committee positions with the American Psychological Association, the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers and the American Board of Psychology Specialties. Most recently, Dr. Van Dorsten has been elected as President-Elect for the Colorado Pain Society. Dr. Van Dorsten was the founder and Director of the Behavioral Medicine Fellowship Program in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Anesthesiology Pain from 1996-2000, and is a former Co-Director of the Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy/Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Program.

He is broadly experienced in forensic psychology as it relates to traumatic injury and personal injury litigation and has been admitted in both state and federal courts as an expert witness in pain and rehabilitation psychology, and psychosocial and behavioral factors affecting recovery from personal injury and chronic illness. Dr. Van Dorsten has published numbers of articles and book chapters on pain, diabetes, and traumatic medical injury, and his book Forensic Psychology: From Classroom to Courtroom has gained vast popularity in the forensic psychology and medicine arenas.