Silvia Pavlík Gallová, MCC
Founder of Via Institute, Coach, Mentor, Supervisor, Educator and Organisational Development Consultant
Silvia Pavlík Gallová is the founder and Programme Director of VIA Institute. She is responsible for its academic and strategic direction, the design of educational programmes and methodological frameworks, faculty development, quality assurance and international accreditations.
She is a professional coach with more than 3,000 hours of coaching experience, as well as a supervisor, educator and organisational development consultant. She has worked in coaching and people development since 2010, supporting individuals, teams, leaders and professionals whose work involves developing and supporting others.
Silvia holds the highest professional credential awarded by the International Coaching Federation: Master Certified Coach (MCC). She is also accredited by EMCC Global as a Senior Practitioner in coaching and mentoring and as a supervisor.
Silvia’s approach is grounded in psychodynamic coaching and transactional analysis. She integrates these with systems thinking, reflective practice, mindfulness- and compassion-based approaches, and body-oriented methods.
Her work explores not only what clients consciously bring to the conversation, but also the deeper beliefs, relational patterns and processes that may influence their decisions, experience and capacity for change. She does not view people in isolation, but in the context of their professional roles, relationships and wider organisational systems.
In her individual coaching practice, Silvia works primarily with leaders, managers, coaches and other experienced professionals. She helps them develop a deeper understanding of themselves, engage more consciously with their professional roles, and find ways of leading and making decisions that are authentic, responsible and sustainable.
As a supervisor, she supports coaches, mentors and other practitioners in developing their reflective practice, ethical awareness and capacity to understand the complex dynamics that arise between the practitioner, the client and the system in which they work.
Within organisations, Silvia focuses on the development of coaching and mentoring systems, team and professional relationship dynamics, leadership development and organisational change. She has a particular interest in unconscious processes within organisations and the ways in which they influence culture, relationships, collaboration and a system’s capacity for change.
VIA Institute and the Education of Professionals
Silvia founded Via Institute with a vision of creating education that brings together high professional standards, psychological depth, reflective practice and practical relevance to real-world work with people.
As Programme Director, she designs the overall architecture of Via Institute’s educational portfolio and its academic and methodological frameworks. She is the author or co-author of Via Institute’s key programmes in professional coaching, team coaching, transactional analysis, mentoring and the development of reflective practice.
She is also responsible for educational quality, alignment with international professional standards, accreditation processes and faculty development. Silvia sees education not simply as the transfer of knowledge and methods, but as a process of developing professional identity, judgement and an authentic way of working.
Her aim is not to teach participants to reproduce a single universal model. Instead, she helps them build a strong professional foundation, understand the principles underpinning their their work and gradually integrate them into their own professional style.
Education & experience
Silvia has completed more than 300 hours of professional education in coaching and more than 450 hours of training in transactional analysis. She holds a Diploma in Business Coaching, a Diploma in Coaching Supervision and a Diploma in Team Coaching. She has also undertaken further education in integrative coaching, mediation, adult education, agile leadership, management and organisational development.
She has studied transactional analysis extensively and continues her professional development as part of her pathway towards the internationally recognised Certified Transactional Analyst qualification. Her particular professional interest lies in applying transactional analysis to coaching and to the implementation of coaching within organisational systems.
Silvia holds a Master’s degree in Journalism and has completed postgraduate studies in International Relations and Diplomacy. Before entering the coaching profession, she gained seven years of experience in management roles.
She works in Slovak and English with clients and organisations in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and other European countries.
Contribution to the Profession
Silvia has long contributed to advancing quality, ethics and professional standards in coaching, mentoring and supervision.
She is a member of the Accreditation and Certification Committee of the Slovak Association of Coaches. From 2021 to 2023, she served on the Council of EMCC Czechia and Slovakia, where she was responsible for quality and ethics. She also contributes her expertise to international ICF expert and working groups.
In 2024, Silvia received the Coach of the Year award at the Learning & Development Awards.
My Philosophy
“Since childhood, I have been guided by two ideas: that people do the best they can at any given moment, and that they have reasons for acting as they do. These ideas gave rise to my interest in understanding people more deeply and ultimately led me to psychodynamic work.
My approach is grounded in the fundamental transactional analysis position: I’m OK – You’re OK. I see every person as inherently valuable, capable of thinking and able to take responsibility for their own life.
I believe that developing a deeper understanding of our beliefs, relational experiences and unconscious patterns creates greater freedom in how we make decisions. For me, the role of a coach is not to determine the client’s path, but to create a relationship and the conditions in which they can understand themselves more deeply, discover their own answers and shape their life and professional role more consciously.”
To learn more about Silvia and her individual practice, visit www.silviagallova.com.