Ashley J. Britton, PhD

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine
Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University
600 Moye Boulevard, Mail Stop 694
Greenville, NC 27834

Phone: 252-744-1406
Fax: 252-744-2419
Email: brittona19@ecu.edu

Faculty Rank: Clinical Assistant Professor

Education and Training

Licensure, Certification, and Professional Affiliations

• NC Licensed Psychologist & Health Services Provider
• American Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (ACLP)
• American Psychological Association (APA)
• Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA)
• Eastern Area Health Education Center (Eastern AHEC)

Clinical Practice

Inpatient psychological consultations for behavioral management of medical conditions on the Consultation-Liaison service (e.g., traumatic injury/response, surgery, cancer, complex medical course/prolonged hospitalization); psychological evaluation on BHU and outpatient clinic; individual and group cognitive-behavioral and acceptance-based interventions for health behavior change, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, complex health issues and insomnia.

Teaching and Supervision

• Instructor, PGY-2 Beginning & Supportive Psychotherapy Seminar
• Instructor, PGY-3 Advanced Psychotherapy Seminar
• Guest Lecturer & Small Group Leader, M-1 Behavioral Science Course
• Clinical Instructor, M-2 Basic Psychiatry Course (standardized patient evaluator)
• Supervisor, PhD Student Health Psychology Practicum
• Supervisor, Greenville VA Health Care Center Psychology Internship Program

Research Interests

Cultural and social factors in health behavior change, chronic illness, and psychopathology; Health literacy and numeracy on health outcomes; Impact of pre-surgical quality of life and social support on post-surgical outcomes; Social support and self-efficacy on health outcomes; Quality of life of chronic pain and headaches/migraines; Ethnic disparities in physical and mental health and implicit provider biases; Medical education in psychiatry/ behavioral medicine.

Selected Publications and Manuscripts in Progress

Britton, A. (2020). Managing Cognitive Dissonance and Self-Justification in Counseling Settings. In D. A. Kleiber & E. Delgado-Romero (Eds.), Social Psychology and Counseling: Issues and Applications (pp. ii-275). Hauppenaug, NY: Nova Science.

Davantes-Heckman, B. & Britton, A. (2015). Headache in African Americans: An overlooked disparity. Journal of the National Medical Association, 107(2), 39-45.

Britton, A., Davantes-Heckman, B., and Matero, L. A cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) depression intervention in persons with co-occurring chronic migraines: A randomized clinical pilot efficacy trial. Unpublished manuscript, University of Georgia, Athens, GA. [preparing for submission].

Selected Presentations and Posters

Britton, A. Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders: Classification, Diagnosis and Treatment. Presentation at Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Interdisciplinary Behavioral Medicine Seminar, March 2018.

Britton, A. Chronic Opioid Treatment in Liver Transplant Patients: Considerations for Post-Transplant Chronic Pain Management. Case Presentation at Henry Ford Health System Psychology Pre-Doctoral Internship Multidisciplinary Case Presentation, June 2017.

Britton, A. Considerations & Difficulties of Treating Mandated Domestic Violence Patients in Outpatient Therapy Settings. Case Presentation at Henry Ford Health System Psychology Pre-Doctoral Internship Multidisciplinary Case Presentation, March 2017.

Britton, A. Conversion Disorder/Functional Neurological Disorders and Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures. Case Presentation at Henry Ford Health System Psychology Pre-Doctoral Internship Multidisciplinary Case Presentation, October 2016.

Britton, A., Grimes, T., Weaver, J.N., Blizzard, J. & Heckman, B. Examination of the Psychosocial Impact of Headache Disability and Psychiatric Comorbidity in a College Sample. Poster submitted to the 2014 Society of Counseling Psychology (APA Division 17) Student Poster Session of the American Psychological Association Convention, Washington, DC, August 2014.

Britton, A., Grimes, T., Weaver, J.N., Blizzard, J. & Heckman, B. Examination of the Psychosocial Impact of Headache Disability and Psychiatric Comorbidity in a College Sample. Poster presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Georgia Psychological Association, Athens, GA, May 2014.

Britton, A., Grimes, T., Weaver, J.N., & Heckman, B. Health Disparities: Headache, HIV/AIDS, and Childhood Obesity. Symposium presented at the 60th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Nashville, TN, March 2014.

Khorana, N., Hubbard, A., Fatemi, A., Britton, A., Grimes, T., Blizzard, J., Weaver, J.N. & Heckman, B. The efficacy of tele-psychotherapy: Reducing depressive symptoms in older adults living with HIV/AIDS. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the APA Division 17 Counseling Psychology Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, March 2014.

Heckman, B., Hubbard, A., Britton, A., Weaver, J.N., Grimes, T., Blizzard, J., & Khorana, N. Complementary Alternative Medicines, Chronic Pain, and HIV: An Introduction. Presentation at 2013 AIDS Athens Fall Thrive Event, October 2013.

Conner, A., Khorana, N., Scott, C., Britton, A., & Stewart, A. Weather-Related Stress and Anxiety in a National Sample of Adults. Poster presentation at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Atlanta, Georgia, March 2013.