Yes. Lyte Psychiatry sees Amarillo and Panhandle patients by secure video, so nobody drives in on I-40 or US-287 for a single appointment. Most new patients are seen within 1–2 business days. In-network patients usually pay a $0–$30 copay per visit, and a self-pay psychiatric evaluation is $250 with no other fees attached.
Who in the Panhandle is this Amarillo page for?
Amarillo is the only city of size for two hours in any direction, and its clinics carry that whole load. If you live in Dumas, Borger, Hereford, or Pampa, Amarillo is where the specialists are, an hour each way on US-287, US-87, or SH-152. From Perryton, Dalhart, or Childress it is closer to two. The reader this page was written for first is the one making that drive, or putting it off, because the drive only makes sense when there is an opening at the end of it, and the psychiatry clinics attached to Northwest Texas Healthcare System and BSA Health System serve the whole region.
The second reader works a shift schedule inside the city. The Tyson Fresh Meats plant on the east side and Pantex, 17 miles northeast on US-60, both run shifts that do not fit a 9 a.m. appointment in a Wolflin office. The third is a veteran who gets primary care at the Thomas E. Creek VA Medical Center and would rather not wait for a mental health slot there, or who has Medicare or an employer plan and wants a private prescriber who can start this week.
Texas Panhandle Centers, the public mental health authority for Potter and Randall counties and the surrounding Panhandle counties, serves people without coverage first. If you carry a plan from Amarillo ISD, Amarillo College, West Texas A&M, either hospital system, or one of the plants, you will usually be seen faster by a practice that bills it.
What can Lyte treat by video for Amarillo patients?
Psychiatric evaluation and medication management for adults, teens, and children. Therapy with licensed professional counselors trained in CBT, solution-focused, and trauma-focused methods. Combined care, meaning the prescriber and the therapist share one chart, which matters when your therapist is in Amarillo and your prescriber is on a screen. ADHD evaluation and treatment for adults and teens.
We treat depression, anxiety, panic, social anxiety, PTSD and trauma, OCD, bipolar disorder, ADHD, insomnia and sleep problems, postpartum and perinatal mood problems, grief, and stress and burnout. Dr. Akintola is a licensed Suboxone (buprenorphine) prescriber for opioid use disorder, and that treatment can run by video with pickups at a pharmacy in Amarillo or your home town.
Every visit is by secure video. There is no Lyte office in Amarillo, and our clinic in Pantego, beside Arlington, is about 350 miles down US-287, which is not a drive we would ask a Panhandle patient to make for psychiatry. Video works from a phone in a Tyson break room or a kitchen table in Hereford, and you keep the same prescriber at every visit.
If you are starting a stimulant for ADHD, our policy is that the first evaluation happens in person at our Pantego clinic; follow-ups can be by video. Non-stimulant ADHD medication and everything else can start by video. Because that in-person visit is a full day of driving from Amarillo, we usually offer Panhandle adults a non-stimulant first and only plan the trip if the non-stimulant does not do the job.
Video visits are available in Spanish; ask when you book. We write letters for schools, employers, and fitness-for-duty reviews on request.
Learn how therapy and psychiatry work together when both are part of your care plan.
What the numbers say about Amarillo
Amarillo reports more diagnosed depression than Lubbock, the next city of comparable size on the South Plains, and about the same level of frequent distress. CDC PLACES (BRFSS 2023) puts diagnosed depression at 23.5% of Amarillo adults against 22.7% in Lubbock. Frequent mental distress, 14 or more poor mental health days in a month, is 18.4% in Amarillo and 18.5% in Lubbock. Amarillo (Potter County) has 148,918 adults in that release, so the distress figure is roughly 27,000 people, before counting anyone who drives in from Randall County or the rural counties beyond it.
Those rural counties are the supply problem. Texas DSHS reported that 162 Texas counties had no psychiatrist in 2025, and rural Panhandle counties are among them. A video visit that reaches Dumas or Perryton directly removes the drive.
| Measure | Amarillo | Lubbock | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adults diagnosed with depression | 23.5% | 22.7% | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
| Frequent mental distress (14+ bad days/month) | 18.4% | 18.5% | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
| Adult population | 148,918 | 198,077 | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
The depression and frequent mental distress figures are model-based estimates. Read the CDC PLACES methodology for the survey years, population basis, and estimation limits.
What does a psychiatrist cost in Amarillo with TRS-ActiveCare, Tricare, or Medicare?
In network: BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, UnitedHealthcare and Optum, Cigna and Evernorth, Aetna, Humana, Ambetter, Medicare, Tricare, and more (see the full list). Benefits are verified before the first visit. Most insured patients pay a $0–$30 copay per visit.
Amarillo ISD and Canyon ISD employees are mostly on TRS-ActiveCare, which BCBS TX administers, so the copay lands in that $0–$30 range. We bill Medicare for retirees across the Panhandle. Tricare covers military retirees and their families who settled near the VA. Pantex and Tyson each run their own group plans; tell us which carrier is on your card and we will confirm the copay before your first visit. We also take Ambetter marketplace plans, which are an option for ranch and farm families in Randall, Deaf Smith, and Moore counties who have no employer coverage.
| Visit | Self-pay |
|---|---|
| Psychiatric evaluation (new patient) | $250 |
| Medication follow-up | $150 |
| Therapy, first session | $150 |
| Therapy, follow-up | $125 |
| QbCheck ADHD test | $150 |
| Late cancellation / no-show | $100 |
Self-pay prices are flat and posted, and HSA and FSA cards are accepted. For a Panhandle patient with no coverage, $250 for the evaluation and $150 for each follow-up is the full cost, with no drive and no fuel.
Who will you see
Dr. Akinwande Akintola, MD, is the medical director and supervisory psychiatrist, board-certified in Adult Psychiatry and in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He trained at Johns Hopkins, stayed on the faculty there, and moved to Texas in 2012. Toyin Awe, PMHNP-BC, is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner with 12+ years of experience. NaTascha Jones, LPC, and Prishina Jimenez, LPC, provide therapy. Lyte has served 3,000+ patients and averages 4.9 stars across 200+ Google reviews.
Your questions, answered
Frequently asked questions from Amarillo patients
Is Lyte Psychiatry video only in Amarillo, or is there an office in the Panhandle?
Video only. There is no Lyte office in Amarillo or anywhere in the Panhandle. Our single clinic is in Pantego, next to Arlington, about 350 miles southeast on US-287, and we do not ask Amarillo patients to make that trip. Every visit, including the first evaluation, happens by secure video with the same prescriber.
I live in Dumas, Pampa, or Hereford, not Amarillo. Can I still book?
Yes. We see anyone in Texas by video, and a patient in Moore, Gray, or Deaf Smith County books the same way an Amarillo patient does. You need a phone or laptop with a data or wifi connection. Prescriptions go to the pharmacy you name, so a Hereford patient can use the pharmacy on US-385 in town rather than one in Amarillo.
How soon can a new patient in Potter or Randall County be seen?
Most new Amarillo-area patients are seen within 1–2 business days. Booking is online at any hour, benefits are checked before the visit, and the first video appointment includes the evaluation and any prescription, sent to your Amarillo or Canyon pharmacy. Texas Panhandle Centers serves uninsured Panhandle residents first, so an insured patient is usually seen sooner here.
I get my care at the Thomas E. Creek VA in Amarillo. Can I also see you?
Yes, with coverage of your own or self-pay. Veterans on Medicare, Tricare, or an employer plan can use that coverage here, and a self-pay evaluation is $250. With your written permission we send visit notes to your VA primary care team so your medication list stays in one place.
Will seeing a psychiatrist affect my clearance at Pantex?
Seeking mental health care is not on its own disqualifying. The federal security questionnaire, the SF-86, says so, and it asks about treatment only in narrow situations. We release records only with your signed authorization, and we write a letter for a fitness-for-duty or clearance review when you ask for one. A Pantex employee on a rotating shift can book video visits around that rotation.
Can I get stimulant ADHD medication without driving from Amarillo to Pantego?
Only with one trip. If you are starting a stimulant for ADHD, our policy is that the first evaluation happens in person at our Pantego clinic; follow-ups can be by video. Non-stimulant ADHD medication and everything else can start by video. For Amarillo patients that first drive is about 350 miles each way, so most start a non-stimulant by video instead.
Can a West Texas A&M student in Canyon use this Amarillo page?
Yes. Canyon is about 15 miles south of Amarillo on I-27, and a WT student can be seen by video from a dorm or apartment with a parent's plan or a student plan. If you are under 18, a parent joins the first visit. When the semester ends and you go home to Lubbock or Dallas, the video visits continue with the same prescriber, because we are licensed for all of Texas.
What does a psychiatry visit cost in Amarillo if I have no insurance at all?
A new-patient psychiatric evaluation is $250, a medication follow-up is $150, and a first therapy session is $150. Those are flat prices, paid by card, HSA, or FSA, and there is no travel cost because the visit is video. If you later pick up a plan through Tyson, Pantex, or a school district, we switch you to your in-network copay, usually $0–$30 per visit.
Nearby areas we also serve
Explore care across West Texas & the Panhandle or all Texas locations.
We also see patients by video in Lubbock, Wichita Falls, and Abilene, and from Canyon, Dumas, Borger, Pampa, Hereford, and the rest of the Panhandle under this Amarillo page.
Free and low-cost mental health resources in Amarillo
Texas Panhandle Centers is the public mental health authority for Potter and Randall counties and serves residents without insurance or with limited coverage. Call or text 988 any time for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline; veterans can press 1 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line. The Thomas E. Creek VA Medical Center on Amarillo Boulevard provides mental health care to enrolled veterans. Amarillo College and West Texas A&M students can ask their campus counseling centers about no-cost sessions.
Book a video visit at book.lytepsych.com and we will verify your benefits before you are seen. Or call 469-733-0848.
Find the public mental health authority for your county through the Texas HHS local authority directory.