Riley Nickols, PhD, CEDS-S is a counseling and sport psychologist who specializes in working with athletes to address mental health and performance concerns.
Dr. Nickols obtained an MS in Sport Psychology from Ithaca College in addition to an MS in Counseling Psychology and a PhD in Counseling Psychology from Fordham University. He regularly speaks to athletes, coaches, and sports medicine personnel about disordered eating and unbalanced exercise in sport. Additionally, Dr. Nickols consults with eating disorder professionals on best practices for integrating exercise during eating disorder treatment and is sensitive to the unique demands of eating disorder recovery in relation to training and competing in sport.
Currently, Dr. Nickols is on EDCare’s Scientific Advisory Board and is the Senior Program Advisor for Athlete EDGE at EDCare in Denver, CO where specialized intensive eating disorder treatment is provided for athletes. He was previously the Director of the Victory Program, the nation’s first residential eating disorder treatment facility for athletes, from 2013-2021 at McCallum Place in St. Louis, Missouri.
Dr. Nickols is listed in the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee Mental Health Registry (2020-2022). He is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS) and Supervisor (CEDS-S) through the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals (IAEDP) and holds a certificate in the Integrated Treatment of Eating Disorders from the Contemporary Psychotherapy’s Center for the Study of Anorexia & Bulimia (CSAB) in New York, NY. He currently serves on the Clinical Advisory Council for the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA).
Dr. Nickols is currently on the steering committee for the proposed Division of Eating Disorders and Body Image as part of the American Psychological Association (APA) and was on the steering committee for Safe Exercise at Every Stage’s (SEES) Athlete Guidelines.
Dr. Nickols is a member of the Big Sky Sport Psychology Group, Collegiate Clinical/Counseling Sport Psychology Association (CCSPA), American Psychological Association’s Division 47 (Exercise & Sport Psychology), Association of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP), and the AASP Eating Disorders Special Interest Group.
Dr. Nickols is a licensed psychologist in California, Indiana, Colorado, and Missouri. Additionally, he is an approved, participating PSYPACT psychologist and can provide telehealth in the participating PSYPACT states.
In addition to competing in endurance sports for over 20 years, Dr. Nickols is a running coach and a USA Triathlon coach.
His proudest accomplishment is being married to his best friend and raising three adorable kids.
