Background

Nick Pappas, Ph.D., LPC., NCC, brings a unique background, with an inspiring and empowering presence, to his audiences and clients with more than 35 years of experiences that highlight a rare combination of practical, athletic, and academic achievement. As a diligent, life-long seeker of wisdom, truth, and excellence, Dr. Pappas completed his doctorate degree in human development and family science with a minor in sociology of sport from The Ohio State University. Prior to this, he earned a master’s degree in counselor education from The Ohio University and a bachelor’s degree in kindergarten and elementary education from The Pennsylvania State University.

The creation of his book Discovering Your Excellence Within: A Holistic Guide To Being Your Best and its accompanying workbook involved more than 18 years of intensive study, research, and contemplative writing. This persistence resulted in the development of an extraordinary approach for elevating performance and strengthening all aspects of the holistic self. Achievers, who recognize and value the pursuit of excellence in combination with greater self-development and self-mastery, will find these volumes filled with uplifting information and practical life-enhancing strategies, which can help to bring out the best in who you are and all that you do. Discovering and then learning to utilize an array of innate, yet often hidden, abilities are an incredible opportunity awaiting those who are eager to excel on their path. 

Residing at the opposite end of the spectrum from Discovering Your Excellence Within, Dr. Pappas’ doctoral dissertation, On the Ice and Off the Rink: A Qualitative Study of Hockey Players’ Aggression, exposed different types of out-of-sport athlete aggression against males and females through interviews with 23 collegiate and/or minor professional athletes. This work served as the foundation for his book, The Dark Side of Sports: Exposing the Sexual Culture of Collegiate and Professional Athletes, because the information that Pappas discovered and withheld from his dissertation included sexually deviant, but not necessarily aggressive behavior. This project expanded to include 142 collegiate, minor, and major leagues athletes representing five prominent U.S. sports, although virtually every collegiate male sport is noted within these research findings.

As a University Adjunct Professor, Dr. Pappas has taught undergraduate and graduate-level classes including sociology of sport, counseling, sport marketing, health and wellness, fitness, and strength training at several state universities. His academic publications and presentations have addressed athlete aggression, counseling, and family issues. Dr. Pappas’ study, Athlete Aggression on the Rink and Off the Ice: Athlete Violence and Aggression in Hockey and Interpersonal Relationships, continues to draw significant attention from academic scholars and students alike.

Presentations based on his groundbreaking book, The Dark Side of Sports: Exposing the Sexual Culture of Collegiate and Professional Athletes, address an array of sexually deviant and aggressive behaviors occurring at a variety of levels beginning in high school in an effort to prevent these negative practices while promoting personal and team excellence in the process. Incorporating material from his book Discovering Your Excellence Within and its accompanying workbook, Dr. Pappas enjoys promoting greater self-development, self-mastery, and the pursuit of excellence in addition to stress and energy management using a holistic approach to impact multiple aspects of the self through his counseling and life coaching work, presentations, and teaching.

Dr. Pappas is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and a National Certified Counselor (NCC) with over 25 years of experience that includes working as a mental health therapist, an adult and adolescent drug and alcohol counselor, a school counselor (grades 5-12), a teenage group home counselor, and as a professional holistic counselor / life coach in private practice. As a teacher at the elementary, middle, and high school level, he has taught a variety of subjects including industrial arts, physical education, and strength training in addition to a year of instructing high school theology classes. Most importantly, these diverse experiences have provided ample opportunities for Pappas to refine and use his holistic approach to assist both clients and students alike in overcoming a variety of stressful challenges and concerns.

As a hockey coach, Dr. Pappas worked as an assistant coach for the Johnstown Chiefs of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), which was the AA minor professional affiliate for the NHL’s Calgary Flames. Prior to this, he coached The Ohio State University Women’s Club Hockey Team during his doctoral program. While earning a master’s degree at Ohio University in the areas of school, college, and mental health counseling, he served as an assistant coach for the OU Men’s Ice Hockey Team, helping the Bobcats to win back-to-back league, playoff, and national championships. Dr. Pappas has been an instructor and coach for over 26 years at youth camps and sports clinics, including the Penn State Hockey Camps.

As a minor professional hockey player for five seasons, Dr. Pappas played on championship teams in his first three seasons and was his team’s captain during his third season. He gained invaluable experience during the second and third championship seasons, which were won under the NHL’s 2004 Stanley Cup winning coach John Tortorella. He played his final two seasons of professional hockey in Europe – first in Sweden and then in Denmark as a player-coach. As a collegiate athlete, Pappas played a season as a “walk-on” at Division I Bowling Green State University before transferring to Penn State University. At PSU, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, he was part of a national championship team and received the team’s Most Valuable Player Award. Overall, Nick has been a part of six championship teams during his elite-level hockey career – two as a collegiate coach, three as a minor professional athlete, and one as a collegiate athlete. Dr. Pappas was inducted into the Andrean High School Sports Hall of Fame and the Penn State Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004.

Seldom do authors, teachers, and counselors have the luxury of drawing on the extraordinarily diverse career opportunities that Dr. Nick Pappas has experienced. Nick’s participation in collegiate and professional sports as a player and a coach has equipped him with a unique perspective into both human and athlete behavioral issues in combination with a powerful approach for elevating performance and all aspects of the body, mind, and spirit. These experiences, combined with practical and academic knowledge and understanding, provide exceptional resources that enable and empower Dr. Pappas’ ability to teach, motivate, and inspire diverse audiences and the clients he counsels and coaches.