Events, Presentations, & Media

I love sharing ideas from psychology! I have years of experience leading workshops for mental health professionals, presentations at corporate and school events, giving talks to the general public, and doing media appearances and interviews. I do presentations both virtually and in-person. Please reach out to me if you are interested in learning more or arranging an appearance.

Presentations

I give talks to the general public in a variety of formats, including corporate and school events, lectures, television appearances, and live social media events. I have presented on a wide range of topics including:

• Managing Burnout and Stress

• Leadership

• Professional Development

• Psychological Flexibility

• Work-Life Balance

• Emotional Intelligence

• Assertive Communication

• Resilience and PostTraumatic Growth

• Values Workshops

• Goal-Setting and Behavior Change

• Health Behaviors, Chronic Pain, and Sleep

Professional Trainings and Consultation Services for Mental Health Professionals

If you are a mental health professional looking for ACT training or consultation, please contact me. I am passionate about helping mental health professionals and students advance their skills in ACT and contextual behavioral therapies! I have experience presenting:

• Three-day Introduction to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) experiential workshops, as a nationally-recognized VA Regional Trainer

• Briefer ACT workshops and lectures, in a variety of formats

• Clinical Consultation for mental health clinicians learning ACT

• Clinical Supervision for psychology doctoral students and clinicians working toward licensure

• Academic lectures and seminars - former lecturer and instructor at the Harvard University Department of Psychology (2003-2007)

• Workshops and seminars for mental health professionals - locally, nationally, and internationally, including the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science World Conference - on a wide range of topics including:

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

  • Burnout and Compassion Fatigue

  • Helping suicidal clients

  • Working with chronic pain and health behavior change

  • Professional development and women’s leadership

  • Clinical supervision

Podcast Interviews

Not only do I co-host my own podcast, Psychologists Off the Clock, I appear on podcasts as a guest. Here are a few I’ve done recently:

Recent Articles and Interviews

My article for Psyche.co on How To Ask for Help

Sean M. Barnes, Lauren M. Borges, Debra Sorensen, Geoffrey P. Smith, Nazanin H. Bahraini, & Robyn D. Walser (2022). Safety Planning Within Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice.

New Harbinger Blog Post: Fostering Personal Growth through Adversity: Reflections on the Pandemic

Interviews in news articles:

• CNBC:

  • Burnout is on the rise worldwide — and Gen Z, young millennials and women are the most stressed.

  • 3 morning habits to help you be happier and more productive at work, according to psychologists

  • 3 signs you’re addicted to stress

• Business Insider:

  • Hate your job but can't quit?

• Women’s Health:

  • 10 Signs You Need A Vacation ASAP: And how to prevent the burnout breakdown before it happens.

• APA Monitor on Psychology:

  • The impact of parental burnout: What psychological research suggests about how to recognize and overcome it

  • Grow your practice through content creation: How to use blogs, podcasts, ecourses, and other content to attract patients and boost your profile  

• Washington Post:

  • Could we make being a working parent easier - by reframing how we think about it?

  • Torn between embracing your pandemic looks or changing them? Here’s how to feel your best.

  • Therapist or coach: Understanding the difference and how to pick one

• Realtor Magazine:

  • Build a morning routine that works

  • How emotional intelligence makes you a better leader

• Fatherly.com

  • How to stop comparing yourself to others: 5 tips to remember

  • When promises don’t pan out: What to say when your partner never follows through

  • How to cope with the end of a close friendship

  • Parenting disagreements happen. Here’s how to make them less frustrating

  • 4 expert techniques to quit ruminating on trivial stuff

Recorded Presentations & Media Appearances

Daily ACT - Praxis Webinar

April 28, 2021

Dr. Diana Hill and I share simple practices from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), to designed to help you cultivating wellbeing through courageous, aware, and whole-hearted living. You’ll leave this webinar with tools to build values-based daily habits, and strategies for staying present and gaining perspective, all while navigating whatever life throws your way.

Local News Segment: Stay at Home Summer with Kids

May 19, 2020

KDVR Fox 31 Denver

Local News Segment: Pandemic-Related Psychological Distress

September 11, 2020

KDVR Fox 31 Denver

Mastering Burnout

June 2, 2020

On Mindful Mastery with Dr. Lara Fielding

Selected Past Presentations and Trainings

Sorensen, D. (January, 2023). Burnout Prevention. Vail Resorts (Online Q&A session available to all Vail Resorts employees)

Makin-Byrd, K. and Sorensen, D. (November, 2022). Control Is Still the Problem: Aware, Open and Active Exercises for Burnout Prevention and Protection. Australia/New Zealand ACBS Conference (Virtual).

Sorensen, D. & McKelvie, M. (June, 2022). Transcending Self (-as-Content): True Belonging from the Inside Out. Workshop presented at the 20th annual meeting of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), San Francisco, California.

Miller, M., Rothfelder, K., Hill, D., Sorensen, D., Payne, J., & Kecmanovic, J. (June, 2022). The Diffusion of Defusion: Disseminating and Promoting Contextual Behavioral Science through Popular Media. Presented at 20th Annual World Conference of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), San Francisco, California.

Manchanda, M., Cañon, L, Miller, M., Miller, R., Mullen, P., Sangha, J., Sorensen, D., Underwood, S. (June, 2022). Women’s Leadership in Action: Empowering Women, Using a Contextual Behavioral Framework. Presented at 20th Annual World Conference of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS - Virtual)

Sorensen, D. (June, 2022) Fostering Openness, Awareness, and Values-Based Living with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Association of Virgin Islands Psychologists. (2-hour introductory ACT workshop (Virtual).

Sorensen, D. (May, 2022). Emotional Intelligence and Psychological Flexibility in the Workplace. Women’s Industry Network (Women in Collision Repair), Greenville, South Carolina.

Sorensen, D. (March, 2022). Women and Burnout: Coming Together to Connect and Recharge. Webinar to the Women’s Special Interest Group of the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science (Virtual)

Sorensen, D. (October, 2021) Fostering Openness, Awareness, and Values-Based Living with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Hawaii Behavioral Health and Wellness Convention - a joint conference of the Hawaii Associations of Psychologists, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists. (3-hour introductory ACT workshop - Virtual).

Sorensen, D. (October, 2021) Whole Family Resilience: Psychological Flexibility for Parents and Children in Difficult Times. Boulder Community School of Integrated Studies (Virtual)

Sorensen, D. (August-September, 2021). ACT for Burnout. 8-Hour Webinar, Praxis Continuing Education (Virtual)

Sorensen, D. (2021). Emotional Intelligence. Big Brain Summit (Virtual)

McKelvie, M. and Sorensen, D. (June, 2021) Belonging as Our Birthright: Cultivating Belonging from the Inside Out. Presented at 17th Annual World Conference of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (Virtual).

Barnes, S.M., Borges, L.M., Smith, G., Sorensen, D., and Bahraini, N.H. (June, 2021) ACT for Life: Experiential training on a Contextual Behavioral Approach to Suicidal Ideation and Behavior. Two-day pre-conference workshop, presented at 17th Annual World Conference of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (Virtual).

Walser, R.D., Sorensen, D., Payne, J., McKelvie, M., Connally, M., & Whooley, S. (2021). Treating Trauma with ACT: An Introductory Training for MEND. Webinar, Praxis Continuing Education Training. (Virtual)

Hill, D & Sorensen, D. (2021). Daily ACT: Simple Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Practices for Daily Life. Webinar, Praxis Continuing Education.

Sorensen, D. (2021). Whole Family Resilience: Psychological Flexibility for Parents and Children in Difficult Times. Webinar, Boulder Country Day, Parent Education Series

Sorensen, D. (2021). "I'm exhausted!" Recharging from Burnout During the Pandemic. First Annual Psychologists Off the Clock Wise Minds Summit (Virtual)

Sorensen, D. (2020) Managing Burnout and Work/Life Balance in the Time of COVID. McKinstry Mountain Womxn Alliance Session. (Virtual)

Walser, R.D., Sorensen, D., Payne, J., McKelvie, M., Morris, M. (2020). Treating Trauma with ACT: An Introductory Training for MEND. Webinar, Praxis Continuing Education Training (Virtual)

 Stoddard, J., Morris, M., Coyne, L., Sorensen, D., and Janina, S. (July, 2020). Making Mighty Moves: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome One Present Moment at a Time. Presented at 16th Annual World Conference of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, (Virtual)

McKelvie, M. and Sorensen, D. (2020). Coming up for Air: A Professional Development Workshop for Women in Mental Health. Boulder, Colorado.

As a VA Regional Trainer in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for Depression (Department of Veterans Affairs, National Office of Mental Health), I have taught several multi-day Introductory ACT Workshops:

• Three-day ACT for Depression - introductory experiential workshop, Colorado Springs, Oct. 2019

• Three-day ACT for Depression - introductory experiential workshop, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jan. 2019

• Three-day ACT for Depression - introductory experiential workshop, Salt Lake City VA, April 2018

• Three-day ACT for Depression - introductory experiential workshop, Denver VA, August 2017

• Four-day ACT for Depression - introductory experiential workshop, Marion Illinois VA, 2016

Hill, D., and Sorensen, D. (2019). Fall Reset and Restore Wellness Workshop. Santa Barbara, California.

Barnes, S. M., Borges, L. M., Smith, G., Sorensen, D. & Walser, R. D. (June, 2019). Empowering patients to thrive despite their desire for death: A workshop on ACT for suicide prevention. Workshop presented at the 17th annual meeting of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), Dublin, Ireland.

Taslim, T., Sorensen, D., Morris, M. &  Porosoff, L. (June, 2019) Leading Together: Empowering Women to Make Values-Based Moves Towards Authentic Leadership. Workshop presented at 17th Annual World Conference of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, Dublin, Ireland.

Fielding, L., Sorensen, D., Moran, D.J., Leonard-Curtin, A., Walsh, G. (June, 2019). Dissemination v. Marketing: Are Fusion and Avoidance Preempting Committed Action to ACBS Values?  Panel presented at 17th Annual World Conference of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, Dublin, Ireland.

Borges, L. M., Smith, G. P., Sorensen, D., & Barnes, S. M. (April 2019). Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy across the continuum of care to promote life and prevent suicide. Panel presented at the 52nd annual meeting of the American Association of Suicidology, Denver, Colorado.

Barnes, S.M., Sorensen, D., Smith, G., Borges, L.M., & Walser, R.D. (2018). Empowering Clients to Thrive Despite Their Desire for Death: A Workshop on ACT for Suicide Prevention. Workshop presented at 16th Annual World Conference of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, Montreal, Canada.

Sorensen, D. (2017). Fostering Health Behavior Change with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Webinar presented to Dept of Veterans Affairs (nationally) as part of the VA’s ACT Mini Lecture Series (Virtual)

Sorensen, D., Barnes, S.M., Smith, G. (2017). ACT for Suicide Prevention. Panel presented at Rocky Mountain Association of Contextual Behavioral Science Conference, Denver, Colorado.  

Barnes, S.M., Smith, G., Sorensen, D. & Weinstein, J. (2017). ACT for Life: Discussing the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Suicide Prevention. Panel discussion presented at DoD/VA Suicide Prevention Conference, Denver, Colorado.

Barnes, S.M., Bahraini, N.H., Pistorello, J. & Sorensen, D. (2016). Utilizing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Understand and Prevent Suicide. Panel presented at the 14th Annual World Conference of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, Seattle, Washington.

Sorensen, D. (2013). ACT for Chronic Pain. Workshop presented at Rocky Mountain Association of Contextual Behavioral Science, Golden, Colorado.