The Team
All counselors at Red Dust Collaborative are trauma-informed, multiculturally-informed, LGBTQIA+ affirming, and secular.
Karli Altenbern, LPC
Founder and ClinicianKarli (she/they) is a certified integrative somatic trauma therapist and operates from a relational-cultural perspective. Primarily working with adults with complex trauma, Karli aims to hold compassionate space in session, helping each client discover the right tools and skills for their own healing.
A theatre artist and yoga teacher, Karli values creativity, embodied movement, and authentic self-expression.
Karli founded Red Dust Collaborative to meet the call for queer and neurodivergent community, third space that doesn’t wig out the nervous system, and creative classes that promote playfulness rather than competition.
Michaela Slavid, LPC
ClinicianMichaela (she/her) draws from the wisdom of Internal Family Systems to help clients find a deeper sense of connectedness and confidence within, and with others. Working with individuals 18+, couples, and families, she nurtures clients' ability to navigate conflict within their own system, and supports partners looking to find clarity and peace rather than disagreement, and approach healing from hurt.
Michaela is inspired by human nature; the beautiful tangle of intricacies innate to each person, the ways our experiences shape us, and the ripples we make in the world. She considers it the greatest honor to be a therapist.
Alyssa Smith, LPC
ClinicianAlyssa (she/they) draws on psychodynamic and relational-cultural perspectives. Her style is steady, collaborative, and depth-oriented. Primarily working with individuals 18+ who experience complex trauma, grief, depression, and anxiety, Alyssa acts as an empathetic witness, guide, and fellow traveler to help people better understand and integrate their past experiences. Alyssa sees the process of making meaning together as a way to develop a more nuanced, grounded, and coherent sense of self.
Alyssa enjoys reading, songwriting, and spending time in nature. She values the power of creative expression and community to heal.
Mackenzie O’Mealey, LPC
ClinicianMackenzie (she/her) specializes in treating anxiety, depression, grief and loss, trauma, low self-esteem, shame and guilt, ADHD, relational conflict, identity confusion, life transitions, and stress in adults and teens. She is devoted to providing safe, affirming care for 2SLGBTQ+, neurodivergent, and gender-expansive folks, as well as those navigating deconversion and/or religious trauma. Her approach is depth-oriented, individualized, trauma-informed, and deeply relational. Mackenzie utilizes an eclectic approach to each client, pulling from evidence-based treatments like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Narrative Therapy, and Internal Family Systems (IFS), also known as "parts work". Mackenzie's work is rooted in transparency, consent, and relational safety with a heavy dose of millennial humor.