The Yellow City Playroom Team
Ashley Wade MA, LPC-S, RPT-S™
Ashley Wade lives in Amarillo Texas, graduated from Southern Nazarene University with a Masters in Counseling. She holds a current license with the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council as a License Professional Counselor and a Certification as a Registered Play Therapist. Ashley is trained in Child Centered Play Therapy, Theraplay, Autplay and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Ashley is currently an LPC Supervisor and taking new LPC Associates at this time. In her spare time, Ashley enjoys spending time with her two beautiful children and amazing husband.
Lauren Diestelkamp MA, LPC
Lauren Diestelkamp was born in Amarillo but grew up in Northern Colorado. She returned to the Texas Panhandle to be closer to family. She has a BA in English with a concentration in literature and creative writing and an MA in clinical mental health counseling with a concentration in trauma-focused therapy. Lauren approaches her work from a trauma-informed lens and brings an eclectic balance of creativity and evidence-based therapeutic techniques.
She has training in play therapy, trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy, managing ADHD, and using somatic work to treat anxiety, depression, and trauma. And In her spare time, she enjoys writing, bird watching, watching old movies, and playing with her 4 fur babies!
Destiny Whitaker LPC Associate
Supervised by Ashley Wade MA, LPC-S, RPT-S
Destiny was born and raised in Amarillo and graduated with an Associates in Social Work, a Bachelor's in Psychology, and a Master's in Counseling. She has worked with children with Autism, and worked as a forensic interviewer at the Bridge Children's Advocacy Center. She also has worked as a Local Outreach to Survivors of Suicide (LOSS) Coordinator for a suicicide response team. Destiny is supervised by Ashley Wade and has an interest in play therapy. It has been on her heart to be a child therapist since she was thirteen years old. She believes that children deserve to be safe and heard and feels that it would be a privilege for her to be that for them. Her approach is trauma informed and person-centered and has a background in trauma, grief, anxiety, and depression. She has training in Mental Health First Aid, trauma focused behavioral therapy, applied behavior analysis, cognitive behavioral therapy, and intro to plat therapy.
Destiny enjoys spending time with her two amazing children and awesome husband and loves going camping and fishing.
Traci Barnett Graduate Student
Supervised by Ashley Wade MA, LPC-S, RPT-S
Please help us welcome our Spring 2025 Graduate Student Intern Traci Barnett!✨
Traci was born and raised in West Texas. She has a BA in Family Studies from Lubbock Christian University and is currently working on her Masters degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She has experience working with children at Child Protective Services, High Plains Children’s Home, and the Turn Center. She has an interest in play therapy and trauma-focused approaches. She loves seeing the growth that can occur when children are loved and seen for who they are uniquely created to be. She enjoys spending time with her husband and three children and also loves reading, doing puzzles, and traveling.
Traci is available to see clients ages 5 y/o and older under supervision of Ashley Wade MA, LPC-S, RPT-S. You can read more about Traci’s qualifications at yellowcityplayroom.com