Yes. Lyte Psychiatry sees Killeen patients by secure video, on post at Fort Cavazos or off post in Harker Heights and Copperas Cove, and Tricare Prime and Tricare Select are in network. 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 this Killeen page is written for
Fort Cavazos is the reason Killeen exists at its current size, and the post sets the rhythm of the whole city. III Armored Corps and the 1st Cavalry Division rotate units to Europe and Korea, and brigades leave for the National Training Center. Every summer a wave of PCS moves empties one set of houses in Harker Heights and fills them with families who left a prescriber behind at their last duty station. Care in this city gets cut off mid-treatment by orders, and spouses hold the household together between rotations.
The spouse is the first reader. She has Tricare Prime, two kids in Killeen ISD, a soldier who has been gone since the fall, and a primary care manager at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center who wrote a behavioral health referral that has not turned into an appointment. She needs a prescriber who will see her on Thursday, by video, after school pickup, and who takes Prime.
Then there is the soldier. He is on Prime, his unit has an embedded behavioral health team he does not want to walk into, and he is weighing whether an off-post psychiatrist is even allowed. It is, with a referral, and we explain how below. A retiree reads this page too. He finished his career at Fort Hood before the name changed, stayed in Killeen, and now carries Medicare with Tricare for Life. His old prescriber retired and the practices he has called near AdventHealth Central Texas have told him new patients wait months. Central Counties Services, the public mental health authority for Bell County, serves residents without coverage first, so none of the three readers above is at the front of its line.
What can Lyte treat for a Killeen patient?
Psychiatric evaluation and medication management for adults, teens, and children, including PTSD and trauma care for soldiers, veterans, and the spouses who absorb it secondhand. Therapy with licensed professional counselors using CBT, solution-focused, and trauma-focused work. Combined care, meaning your prescriber and your counselor share one chart, so a spouse seeing both does not tell the deployment story twice. ADHD evaluation and treatment for adults and teens, with stimulant and non-stimulant options. Dr. Akintola is board-certified in child and adolescent psychiatry, which matters for a Killeen ISD student who has moved schools three times in six years.
Conditions: depression, anxiety, panic, social anxiety, PTSD and trauma, OCD, bipolar disorder, ADHD, insomnia, postpartum and perinatal mood problems, grief, and stress and burnout. Dr. Akintola is a licensed Suboxone prescriber for opioid use disorder, which some soldiers and retirees arrive with after years of pain management. Clinical letters for school, work, or command are written on request.
Killeen is served by video only. Our single clinic is in Pantego, inside Arlington, roughly 150 miles north by I-35, and we are not going to suggest a Killeen patient make that trip for routine care. You take the visit from home or from family housing on post, as long as you are in Texas when the visit starts. A parked car outside the Central Texas College library works between classes. The same provider sees you every time, which is a change for anyone whose care has been handed from one clinic to the next with each set of orders.
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 a Killeen adult or teen that means a non-stimulant can start this week from home, and the stimulant question stays open for a later conversation with the prescriber.
Video visits are available in Spanish; ask when you book. Prescriptions go electronically to the pharmacy you name, whether that is a Killeen H-E-B or the Darnall pharmacy if you are eligible to fill there. If the plan includes therapy, the counselor's first session goes on the calendar before your first visit ends.
Learn how therapy and psychiatry work together when both are part of your care plan.
What the numbers say about Killeen
| Measure | Killeen | Temple | Texas | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults diagnosed with depression | 24.9% | 25.4% | 19.7% | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
| Frequent mental distress (14+ bad days/month) | 20.7% | 18.5% | 16.1% | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
| Adult population, Killeen (Bell County) | 108,686 | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
One in five Killeen adults reports frequent mental distress. CDC PLACES (BRFSS 2023) puts the figure at 20.7%, meaning 14 or more poor mental health days in a month, against 18.5% in Temple, about 25 miles east on I-14, and 16.1% for Texas. Diagnosed depression is 24.9% in Killeen and 25.4% in Temple, so the two Bell County cities sit together more than five points above the state's 19.7%. Killeen (Bell County) has 108,686 adults in the same release; 20.7% of that is about 22,500 people in frequent distress, most of them tied to the post one way or another.
Temple has the Baylor Scott & White system headquarters and the Central Texas VA hospital, so its patients at least have somewhere to be referred. Killeen has neither, and a Darnall referral into the Tricare network often ends up in Temple, Waco, or Austin for that reason.
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 Killeen with Tricare Prime, Tricare Select, or no 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 |
Tricare is the plan most Killeen patients carry. After that comes Aetna and BlueCross for the civilian workforce around the post, Medicare with Tricare for Life for retirees in Killeen and Harker Heights, and TRS-ActiveCare through BCBS TX for Killeen ISD teachers and staff, a group that includes a great many military spouses. Central Texas College and Texas A&M University-Central Texas employees carry state or college group plans; send us a photo of the card and we confirm the copay before you are seen. Self-pay, HSA and FSA are also accepted, and the self-pay price is flat: $250 for the evaluation, $150 for a follow-up, with no surprise line items.
Who will you see at Lyte?
Dr. Akinwande Akintola, MD, is our 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 or more years of experience. Therapy is with NaTascha Jones, LPC, and Prishina Jimenez, LPC. Lyte has served 3,000+ patients with a 4.9-star average from 200+ Google reviews.
Your questions, answered
Frequently asked questions from Killeen patients
What is the difference between Tricare Prime and Tricare Select for seeing Lyte from Killeen?
Prime means you are assigned a primary care manager, usually at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, and active duty soldiers on Prime need that PCM's referral before we can bill Tricare for an off-post specialty visit. Most Prime family members, and everyone on Select, can book with us directly without a referral. Select carries a cost share for network care, while Prime family members usually pay little or nothing; either way we confirm the exact number with the Tricare regional contractor before your first visit. If you are not sure which plan you are on, the card and the DEERS enrollment say so, and we can check.
Can I start care now if my spouse deploys from Fort Cavazos next month, and can I keep it up while they are gone?
Yes to both. A spouse or dependent in Killeen keeps seeing the same provider by video for the entire rotation, and the schedule flexes around solo bedtimes and school runs. The soldier can start too, and we will see them until they leave Texas. Once deployed, or at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin in California, they are outside our license, so we write a summary for the unit behavioral health team and pick back up when they are home and back in the state.
Where is the nearest Lyte office to Killeen, and do I ever have to go there?
Our only clinic is at 2900 W Park Row Dr in Pantego, inside Arlington, roughly 150 miles north of Killeen by I-35. There is no Lyte office in Killeen, Harker Heights, Temple, or Waco. Every Killeen patient is seen by secure video. The only visit that has to happen in Pantego under our policy is a first stimulant evaluation for ADHD, so a Killeen patient who needs ADHD treatment can start a non-stimulant by video instead.
Can a Killeen patient see a psychiatrist by video, and how fast?
Yes. Most new Killeen patients are seen within 1–2 business days, and booking is online at any hour. That compares with a Darnall behavioral health referral that can take weeks to land in a Temple or Austin practice. Tell us your duty schedule or your shift at AdventHealth Central Texas when you book and we will put the slot where it fits.
What will I pay in Killeen with Tricare versus paying cash?
With Tricare Prime, Tricare Select, Medicare, Aetna, BCBS TX, or another in-network plan, most patients pay a $0–$30 copay per visit, and we tell you the exact figure before you are seen. Without insurance, a new-patient evaluation is $250, a medication follow-up is $150, and a first therapy session is $150. A soldier who separated last month and whose Tricare has lapsed can pay the flat rate until VA or civilian coverage starts.
I retired out of Fort Hood and have Medicare with Tricare for Life. Which one do you bill?
Medicare first, then Tricare for Life as the secondary payer, and we are in network with both, so a Killeen retiree usually pays little or nothing at the visit. Bring both cards to the first video visit. If the VA clinic in Killeen or the Temple VA is already prescribing something, tell us, and we will coordinate rather than duplicate.
My child changed Killeen ISD schools twice in three years and is struggling. Can Lyte see a kid by video?
Yes. Dr. Akintola is board-certified in child and adolescent psychiatry and evaluates Killeen ISD students by video with a parent present. Bring the school's notes and any records from the last duty station's provider. We write letters to the school on request, and the chart travels with you at the next PCS, which matters more for a military child than for almost any other patient.
Nearby areas we also serve
Explore care across Austin & Central Texas or all Texas locations.
We also see patients by video in Temple, Waco, Georgetown, Round Rock, and Austin, and from anywhere in Bell and Coryell counties, including Harker Heights, Copperas Cove, Nolanville, and Belton.
Free and low-cost mental health resources in Killeen
Central Counties Services is the public mental health authority for Bell County and the first stop for residents without insurance. Call or text 988 any time to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline; press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line. The Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic in Killeen sees post-9/11 veterans and military family members, including spouses and children, at low or no cost, and works well alongside psychiatric care here. On post, Darnall's behavioral health department, the unit embedded behavioral health teams, and Military OneSource handle care and confidential non-medical counseling for active duty families. AdventHealth Central Texas has the emergency department for a crisis that cannot wait.
Book a video visit at book.lytepsych.com and we will verify Tricare, Medicare, or your commercial plan 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.