Yes. Lyte Psychiatry sees Edinburg patients by secure video from a dorm room at UTRGV, an office near the Hidalgo County Courthouse, or your kitchen table off Closner Blvd. Most new patients are seen within 1–2 business days. Insured patients usually pay a $0–$30 copay per visit; a self-pay psychiatric evaluation is $250.
Who is this Edinburg page for?
It is mid-semester at UTRGV, the Edinburg campus is packed, and you have already been to the Counseling Center once. It helped, but you need someone who can prescribe and who can keep seeing you past the end of the term. Or you are a staff member at the UTRGV School of Medicine, a nurse at DHR Health, or a teacher at Edinburg CISD, and the nearest psychiatrist who takes your plan has stopped returning calls.
Edinburg is the Hidalgo County seat and the Valley's college town. It has DHR Health, a large hospital system with its own behavioral health hospital, and a medical school. That is more psychiatric infrastructure than most of South Texas. It is still not enough for the county. Tropical Texas Behavioral Health, the public mental health authority for Hidalgo County, serves people with the least coverage first, and it is stretched. A county employee at the courthouse with BCBS TX, or a UTRGV employee on UT SELECT, is usually better off with a private practice that takes the plan and can start this week.
What can an online psychiatrist treat for Edinburg patients?
Psychiatric evaluation and medication management for adults, teens, and children, with Dr. Akintola board-certified in child and adolescent psychiatry. Therapy with licensed professional counselors using CBT, solution-focused, and trauma-focused approaches. Combined care, where the prescriber and the therapist write in one shared chart. ADHD evaluation and treatment for adults and teens, with stimulant and non-stimulant options.
We treat depression, anxiety, panic, social anxiety, PTSD and trauma, OCD, bipolar disorder, ADHD, insomnia, postpartum and perinatal mood problems, grief, and stress and burnout. Clinical letters for UTRGV accommodations, Edinburg CISD, or an employer are written on request.
Mode: video only. There is no Lyte office in Edinburg, and our clinic in Pantego, near Arlington, is more than 500 miles up US-281 and I-35. We will not pretend that is a reasonable drive. You see the same provider every visit by secure video, and any prescription is sent electronically to your Edinburg pharmacy.
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 an Edinburg patient, that means we will talk through the non-stimulant route first, and many people do well on it. Video visits are available in Spanish; ask when you book.
A UTRGV student can book for a gap between classes and take the visit from a car in the parking lot or a quiet spot in the library. If you work rotating shifts at DHR Health, tell us your schedule at booking and we will fit the slot to it. Students who go home to Houston or San Antonio for the summer keep the same provider, since we are licensed for the whole state. If home is outside Texas, tell us before the term ends so we can plan refills around the gap. Edinburg is on Central time like our office, so the slot you book is the slot you get.
What the numbers say about Edinburg
Edinburg carries more mental distress than its neighbor to the west. CDC PLACES (BRFSS 2023) puts diagnosed depression among Edinburg adults at 20.1%, against 19.2% in Mission and 19.7% for Texas. Frequent mental distress, meaning 14 or more poor mental health days in a month, is 17.9% in Edinburg, compared with 16.3% in Mission. The same release counts 72,624 adults in Edinburg, which sits in Hidalgo County, so the distress figure covers roughly 13,000 people in a city where most of the specialists work for one hospital system or one university.
Texas DSHS projects the Rio Grande Valley will have the highest unmet psychiatric demand in the state, 71% by 2036. A medical school in town will add psychiatrists to the Valley over the coming years, and the wait this month is still long.
| Measure | Edinburg | Mission | Texas | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults diagnosed with depression | 20.1% | 19.2% | 19.7% | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
| Frequent mental distress (14+ bad days/month) | 17.9% | 16.3% | 16.1% | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
| Adult population, Edinburg (Hidalgo County) | 72,624 | 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.
How much does a psychiatrist cost in Edinburg with insurance?
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.
| 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 HSA and FSA cards work. The plans we see most from Edinburg are UT SELECT, the BCBS TX plan for UTRGV faculty and staff, and TRS-ActiveCare for Edinburg CISD teachers, which BCBS TX also administers. UTRGV students on the university's student health plan and county employees on the Hidalgo County plan should send us a photo of the card and we will confirm the copay before the first visit. Ambetter marketplace plans are common in the Valley and are in network here.
Who will you see on the video call?
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 faculty there, and moved to Texas in 2012. Toyin Awe, PMHNP-BC, is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner with 12+ years of experience. Therapy is with NaTascha Jones, LPC, and Prishina Jimenez, LPC. Lyte has served 3,000+ patients and holds a 4.9-star average from 200+ Google reviews.
Learn how therapy and psychiatry work together when both are part of your care plan.
Your questions, answered
Frequently asked questions from Edinburg patients
Is online psychiatry an option if I live in Edinburg?
Yes, and for Edinburg it is the only way we see patients. Every visit is by secure video, so a student in the dorms on the UTRGV campus and a family off I-69C near Bert Ogden Arena get the same access. You need a Texas location, a phone or laptop with a camera, and a private spot for about an hour at the first visit.
Is there a Lyte office in Edinburg or anywhere in the Rio Grande Valley?
No. Our only office is in Pantego, next to Arlington, more than 500 miles north of the Hidalgo County Courthouse. We do not ask Edinburg patients to drive it. If you want in-person psychiatry in town, DHR Health has a behavioral health hospital, and Tropical Texas Behavioral Health has an Edinburg presence for people who qualify for public services.
How quickly can a UTRGV student or employee get an appointment?
Most new Edinburg patients are seen within 1–2 business days. Book online at any hour, including between classes. If the UTRGV Counseling Center has given you a referral list, you can skip the phone calls and book here directly; no referral is required.
What does a visit cost for someone in Edinburg with or without insurance?
With an in-network plan such as UT SELECT, TRS-ActiveCare, Ambetter, or Cigna, most Edinburg patients pay a $0–$30 copay per visit. Without insurance, a new-patient psychiatric evaluation is $250, a medication follow-up is $150, and a first therapy session is $150. The price is the same for a student in the UTRGV dorms and a family zoned to Edinburg CISD, and HSA and FSA cards work.
I work at DHR Health. Can I be seen outside my shift?
Yes. Tell us your rotation when you book and we will find a video slot before or after it. Working at the hospital on South McColl Road does not put you at the front of its own psychiatry line, and many DHR Health staff carry commercial plans we take. Your chart here is separate from your employer's system.
¿Atienden a pacientes de Edinburg en español?
Sí. Video visits are available in Spanish; ask when you book. Many Edinburg households, from the colonias east of town to faculty families near the UTRGV campus, prefer to talk about medication in Spanish, and we can schedule it that way from the first visit.
Can I start ADHD medication from Edinburg without driving to Pantego?
You can start a non-stimulant by video from Edinburg with no travel. 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 most UTRGV students the practical path is a non-stimulant started this week, and we can revisit a stimulant later if you are ever near Arlington.
Nearby areas we also serve
Explore care across San Antonio & South Texas or all Texas locations.
We also see patients from McAllen, Mission, Pharr, Harlingen, and Brownsville.
Free and low-cost mental health resources in Edinburg
Tropical Texas Behavioral Health is the public mental health authority for Hidalgo County and serves residents without insurance or with limited means. Call or text 988 any time for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. UTRGV students can use the university Counseling Center on the Edinburg campus, and DHR Health's behavioral health hospital handles inpatient and crisis needs locally.
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.