Who I am

 
 
 
 

I aim to create a warm, welcoming, and non-judgmental space where individuals, couples+, and families experience trust, safety, and comfort to bring your authentic selves into the room.

To be vulnerable and open as your true self without fear of judgment is to move towards freedom and expansion.

It is what it means to come home.

Sawat dee, ka. Hello! My name is Malissa Pansa-ad, LMSW (she/her) and I’m a couple+, family, and sex therapist and spiritual practitioner. I identify as a cis-hetero, erotically marginalized Thai-American woman living and practicing on sacred indigenous land.

Here at Spirit House Therapy, I help guide you home to yourself through integrative Theravada Buddhist practice, psychosomatic therapy, and the law of assumption. “Spirit House” is often appropriated by white and BIPOC wellness practitioners alike who don’t actually know what a spirit house (or san prah phum) is or where it comes from. This practice is my way of reclaiming my Southeast Asian culture, religion, and heritage.

This work is holistic and integrative. My approach is from an abolitionist, liberationist, and Theravada Buddhist framework that is systemic, sex positive, and relational; using Theravada Buddhist values; Thai animism and spirituality; quantum physics and neuroscience; and plant spirit medicine, flower essences, and more. We will work to expand your mind, body, and spirit and connect you to your higher self. With your higher, intuitve self, we will embark on the journey home towards freedom, expansion, and your most authentic self.

Education & Training