Johan Sorensen

AI in clinical practice

Johan Sorensen has been in the addiction treatment and recovery field for over 25 years. He has set up and run treatment facilities and programmes in the UK, the Middle East and the US. He is founder of Portobello Behavioural Health and director of Cardinal Clinics.

Johan has sat on a number of charitable boards and consulted to the media on topics around mental health and addiction. He is known for promoting ethical standards across the treatment field, including the sensitive topic of patient brokering.

Initially training as a therapist, he has worked across all aspects of service delivery before starting Portobello Behavioural Health to focus on personalised solutions for individuals, families and organisations throughout the continuum of care.

PRESENTATION (copresented with Robin Lefever)

Why AI – artificial intelligence – is essential for clinicians

AI is knocking on the door of the therapy room, and it’s a visitor we, as mental health professionals and healthcare leaders, need to understand. The question is no longer if AI will impact our practice, but how we can ethically and effectively harness its power to enhance patient care, streamline our workflows, improve clinical outcomes, and optimise resource allocation. For clinicians, this means augmenting clinical skills. For leaders, this means unlocking efficiencies and cost savings that can strengthen the sustainability of mental health services. One of the most persistent myths is that AI aims to replace the clinician. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The goal of evidence-based AI in mental health is augmentation, not automation. So, how can AI practically support our day-to-day work and organisational operations? Attend this presentation to discover what applications are available and how they can help both therapeutic and administrative work.

Learning objectives

  • At the end of this presentation, delegates will be able to:
    Explain the paradigm of AI as an augmentative tool (rather than a replacement) in mental health care, and articulate how evidence-based AI can ethically enhance clinical decision-making, patient care, and therapeutic outcomes
  • Identify practical AI applications currently available to support both therapeutic work (e.g., augmenting clinical skills and client engagement) and administrative/operational tasks (e.g., workflow efficiency, resource allocation, and documentation)
  • Evaluate the potential benefits and implementation considerations of AI integration for mental health clinicians and service leaders, including improvements in clinical outcomes, cost savings, and long-term sustainability of mental health services.