Deep Dive on Existential Career Coaching with Dr. Britt-Mari Sykes

Welcome to this episode of Talking about Coaching, the podcast from coaches for coaches. This episode is one of Yannick's deep dives into one topic or person and we're talking to Dr. Britt-Mari Sykes about existential career coaching, and how career development and navigation in the age of AI increasingly brings existential themes to the fore, as clients have to confront questions of identity, authenticity, uncertainty, temporality, meaning, and isolation. What you’ll hear in this episodeWhy career coaching needs an existential lensHow identity and meaning shift across a career lifeThe role of resistance, stuckness, and uncertaintyWhy “passion” can become a limiting narrativeHow deep listening opens up more useful coaching conversationsThe importance of descriptive reflection over quick fixesHow AI changes the way people think about work, choice, and human valueKey themesWhere traditional career coaching fails to deliverThe existential layerStuckness as informationChallenging narratives around passion and purposeAI as a third voice in the roomChapters0:01 — Why Career Coaching Needs an Existential Lens1:55 — How Britt-Mari Found Her Calling4:14 — Beyond Strategy: The Deeper Work of Career Coaching5:53 — Bringing a Role to Life7:11 — Why Human Conversations Matter More Than Ever9:06 — Traditional Coaching vs. Existential Questions11:06 — Why Practical Steps Come Second14:35 — When Change Feels Impossible21:23 — Listening for What’s Really There23:34 — What “Stuck” Is Really Telling You28:12 — You Are the Job33:25 — The “Shoulds” That Shape Careers39:24 — Passion Paralysis45:32 — Why Description Beats Labels48:58 — Reframing Purpose and Value52:17 — When Work Holds You—and Traps You54:18 — Stuckness as a Useful Pause58:20 — Stepping Back to Reflect63:29 — The Existential Gym67:51 — Five Minutes That Change Your Day70:02 — Practicing Reflection Like a Muscle73:44 — Camus, Sisyphus, and Meaning76:11 — Commitment, Choice, and Decisions80:37 — Freedom, Bad Faith, and the Dizziness of Choice83:30 — Choice, Tradeoffs, and Standing Behind Decisions87:46 — How Clients Step Into This Work91:31 — Making Space for Ambiguity and Contradiction92:33 — Why AI Can’t Replace a Human Coach98:43 — When AI Becomes a Tool, Not a Relationship99:16 — Why the Existential Gym Still Matters100:19 — What Resonated Most103:17 — The Third Voice in the Room104:16 — Learn more from and with Britt-MariBIO: Britt-Mari Sykes, Ph.D., is a Career Counsellor and Consultant, a Career Development Practitioner (CDP), and the founder of CANVAS Career Counselling. She is a member of Career Professionals of Canada and received the 2024 Outstanding Career Professional Award of Excellence. She holds certifications as a Career Strategist (CCS), Work-Life Strategist (CWS), Employment Strategist (CES), Interview Strategist (CIS), and Résumé Strategist (CRS). Britt-Mari has supported a diverse range of clients across Canada for over 16 years, assisting those facing career changes, burnout, or feeling unfulfilled, as well as individuals exploring new work options later in life. She also works with emerging young leaders, senior leaders managing multigenerational teams, and career development practitioners seeking mentorship and guidance. Britt-Mari brings an existential and experiential approach to career counselling, guiding clients to explore their relationship with work and careers, reflect on their experiences, choices, and decisions, and develop practical, meaningful next steps. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa and specializes in existential and experiential psychotherapies. Britt-Mari is the author of Questioning Psychological Health and Well-Being (2010), a historical and contemporary exploration of the meaning of psychological health and development. Currently, she is working on her second book, a collection of essays on the meaning of career and our relationship with work from an existential perspective in career counselling. In addition to her private practice, Britt-Mari has presented at conferences across Canada, the USA, and Europe on topics such as human development, ethics in everyday life, and the value of work. She continues to teach as a sessional and guest lecturer in university classrooms on the history and development of existential psychology and the theory of Existential Analysis. Committed to lifelong learning and professional growth, she regularly participates in workshops and certificate programs on Existential Analysis, Trauma-Informed Care, and Narrative Therapy. Actively engaged in community service, Britt-Mari currently volunteers as a Certification Assessor with Career Professionals of Canada and, for 8 years, volunteered as a group facilitator with the Discover Year program (a structured gap-year initiative).Email: [email protected]: https://mycareercanvas.co LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittmarisykes/ Instagram: @mycareercanvas Brainz Magazine Profile: https://www.brainzmagazine.com/executive-contributor/britt-mari-sykes Support the show- Never miss an episode:https://rocketsupervision.com/talking-about-coaching/- Yannick's Coaching Nuggets: https://gocoachinglab.com/nuggets- Free Starter Kit for new coaches: https://rocketsupervision.com/coaching-starter-kit/- More deep dives at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEK9UENWT66D6uqPJhCznXNhc9Ba9jite- Short episodes of TaC addressing specific questions: https://www.youtube.com/talkingaboutcoaching- Support what we do with a positive review, a comment or by telling a friend or colleague about this episode.- Watch COACHING DEMOS from many of our guests in Yannick's Lab. Membership: https://gocoachinglab.com/Upcoming Labs: https://bit.ly/FutureCoachingLabsFREE taster sessions: https://rocketsupervision.com/coaching-lab-coaching-sessions/ Thanks for being a coach. 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