Renée Sorrentino, MD, one of the nation’s leading forensic psychiatrists, conducts evaluations and testifies in civil and criminal matters throughout New England. She holds medical licenses in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Virginia and is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Sorrentino is a board certified, fellowship-trained forensic psychiatrist. She has experience as an expert witness on psychological damages suffered by plaintiffs, suicide, criminal and civil competencies, criminal responsibility (including experience applying New Hampshire’s Durham Rule), mitigation, malingering, disability, violence risk assessment, sexual offenders, and sexual misconduct by professionals.
Here’s what a client has to say about her work:
It has been my great pleasure to have worked with Dr. Sorrentino over the last several years. She has been invaluable in helping me in some of Vermont’s most serious and notorious cases. Her professional knowledge and insight are exceeded only by her indefatigable energy and uncanny ability to communicate complex psychiatric concepts to lay fact finders. She is, in one word, the best.
David Sleigh, Esq.
SleighLaw
Dr. Sorrentino serves as a Councilor on the executive governance committee of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, a member of the Editorial board of the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Associate Editor of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Newsletter, and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
Park Dietz, M.D., Ph.D., commented:
I came to know Dr. Sorrentino during her training, when she sought my advice about where she could learn the most about sex offenders. She not only took my advice, but became a national authority on sex offenders in her own right. Her background is unique. She both treats and evaluates sexual offenders, and is one of a handful of forensic psychiatrists in the nation who do so. But her talents do not stop there, as she contributes to the broader forensic arena through her evaluation and testimony regarding other offenders and civil litigants. Dr. Sorrentino is an excellent role model for the coming generation of superbly trained, highly accomplished forensic psychiatrists who have mastered multiple topics of importance to lawyers, the courts, and society.
Dr. Sorrentino is the Medical Director of the Institute for Sexual Wellness, a Boston-based multidisciplinary psychiatric practice dedicated to the treatment and evaluation of individuals with problematic sexual behaviors. Dr. Sorrentino has been instrumental in developing the curriculum in paraphilias for six of the psychiatry residency programs in Massachusetts. Through her Board position at the Massachusetts Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, she oversees a clerkship for mental health professionals interested in learning about paraphilias (sexual deviations). To date, Dr. Sorrentino has trained over 20 psychiatrists in the field of paraphilias. She has also educated practicing attorneys through statewide continuing legal education seminars and through the National District Attorneys Association.
Among the forensic questions related to problematic sexual behaviors for which Dr. Sorrentino’s expertise and testimony have been sought are:
Civil commitment of sexual offenders
Sex offender risk assessment
Chemical castration
Sexually problematic behaviors in the workplace
Sexual misconduct by physicians and other health care professionals
Dr. Sorrentino completed her medical degree in an accelerated medical school program at Boston University School of Medicine. In 2002, she completed her residency education at Massachusetts General and McLean Hospitals, Harvard Medical School affiliates, and in 2003, she completed a forensic psychiatry fellowship at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Honors that Dr. Sorrentino received during her training included being selected as Chief Resident in Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and being selected for the Jonas Rappeport Fellowship of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.
Dr. Sorrentino began her career as Director of Forensic Psychiatry at the Eric Lindemann Mental Health Center in Boston. In this role, she provided psychiatric training to residents in the area of forensic evaluations, including both criminal and civil referrals. Her clinical focus was on individuals who had engaged in problematic sexual behaviors. Through her work with sexual offenders, Dr. Sorrentino envisioned creating a multi-disciplinary, evidence-based clinic for the treatment and evaluation of these most troubled and stigmatized individuals. In 2006, she founded the Institute for Sexual Wellness in Boston. For the past 14 years, Dr. Sorrentino has provided psychiatric expertise to local and national organizations in the evaluation, treatment, and prevention of sexual violence. She lectures extensively on forensic issues, particularly on topics related to sexual offender recidivism, evaluation, and treatment.