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.

In addition to clinical duties, Dr. Van Dorsten is contracted investigator for several current NIH studies and also currently serves as the Chair of the Behavioral Investigator core for a National Institutes of Health multi-year, multi-center investigation involving intensive lifestyle interventions in adults with overweight/obesity, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Van Dorsten has delivered multiple national and international presentations regarding the application of behavioral sciences in medicine and rehabilitation, behavioral pain management, patient selection for invasive medical procedures, psychometric testing of medical patients, managing patients on long-term opioid medications, developing and implementing behavioral care in medical services, factors affecting delayed recovery and return to work, traumatic medical injury, chronic illness (diabetes/ obesity), and forensic psychology. He has presented multiple national continuing education workshops on pain assessment and treatment to multi-disciplinary audiences nationwide each year, and has gained wide professional acclaim for his ability to analyze common patient management challenges into practical treatment solutions.