Yes. Lyte Psychiatry sees New Braunfels patients by secure video from anywhere in Comal County, with the same prescriber or therapist each time. 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. New Braunfels is video only for us.
Who is this New Braunfels page for?
It is 6:40 on a weekday morning and you are already merging onto I-35 at FM 306, headed south to a job in San Antonio or north to one in Austin, and the only psychiatrist you found who takes your plan is 40 minutes the other direction with a first opening in November. You have a kid at a Comal ISD elementary and another at New Braunfels ISD, and you are trying to fit a first psychiatry visit around a commute that already eats two hours a day. That commuter is the person this page is written for.
New Braunfels has been one of the fastest-growing cities in the country for most of a decade, and the medical side has not caught up with the subdivisions. The two hospitals, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital New Braunfels and Resolute Health Hospital, cover emergencies and inpatient stays. For an outpatient prescriber who takes your plan, you are on your own. Hill Country MHDD Centers, the public mental health authority for Comal County, serves residents without coverage first, which is the right priority and not much help if you carry a BCBS TX card from an employer down the highway.
The other reader is the parent at home in Gruene or off Walnut Avenue who does the booking for the whole family and needs a prescriber who can see a teenager by video after school, a spouse after his shift, and herself on a lunch break, all in one chart. You get that here without anyone leaving the house.
Can Lyte treat a New Braunfels family entirely by video?
Yes, and that is how we see every New Braunfels patient. Psychiatric evaluation and medication management for adults, teens, and children. Therapy with licensed professional counselors trained in CBT, solution-focused, and trauma-focused work. Combined care, meaning the prescriber and the therapist write in the same record and read each other's notes. ADHD evaluation and treatment for adults and teens, with stimulant and non-stimulant options.
Conditions 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. We write clinical letters for school and work on request, including for a Comal ISD or New Braunfels ISD campus that has asked for documentation.
Mode for New Braunfels: secure video only, no drive. We have no office in New Braunfels. Our only clinic is in Pantego, inside Arlington, about 240 miles north on I-35, and we will not suggest that anyone in Comal County makes that trip for a psychiatry visit. Log in from a quiet room at home or a parked car at the Landa Park lot, as long as you are in Texas and no one can overhear you.
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 New Braunfels patient, the realistic path is a non-stimulant started by video within 1–2 business days, and your prescriber will discuss at the first visit whether that will do the job.
Video visits are available in Spanish; ask when you book.
At the first visit you meet the prescriber, and any prescription goes to the New Braunfels pharmacy you choose, whether that is on Loop 337 or near the Creekside shopping area by I-35. If you and the prescriber decide therapy would help, you can book a counselor before the call ends. If your commute runs late, tell us at booking and we will look for a slot that fits.
What the numbers say about New Braunfels
Comal County looks calmer than Bexar County on paper, and the gap is small. CDC PLACES (BRFSS 2023) puts diagnosed depression among New Braunfels adults at 21.6%, under San Antonio at 22.4% and above Texas at 19.7%. Frequent mental distress, defined as 14 or more poor mental health days in a month, is 16.0% in New Braunfels, compared with 17.2% in San Antonio and 16.1% statewide. The same release counts 68,164 adults in New Braunfels, which sits in Comal County, so the depression figure covers about 14,700 people in a city with two community hospitals and no academic medical center.
| Measure | New Braunfels | San Antonio | Texas | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults diagnosed with depression | 21.6% | 22.4% | 19.7% | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
| Frequent mental distress (14+ bad days/month) | 16.0% | 17.2% | 16.1% | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
| Adult population, New Braunfels (Comal County) | 68,164 | 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 an online psychiatrist cost in New Braunfels 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 is a flat price, and HSA and FSA cards are accepted. The New Braunfels plans we see most are TRS-ActiveCare from Comal ISD and New Braunfels ISD staff, which BCBS TX administers, and BCBS TX or UnitedHealthcare PPOs from San Antonio and Austin employers the commuters work for. CHRISTUS and Resolute employees tend to carry Aetna or Cigna. Tricare shows up from JBSA-Randolph families who bought in Comal County for the schools, and Medicare covers retirees who moved out toward Canyon Lake. Send us a photo of the card and we tell you the copay before the first visit.
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.
Learn how therapy and psychiatry work together when both are part of your care plan.
Your questions, answered
Frequently asked questions from New Braunfels patients
Is there a psychiatrist in New Braunfels who can see me by video this week?
Yes. Lyte sees new New Braunfels patients within 1–2 business days by secure video, and you book online at any hour. If the practices you called along Loop 337 or in San Marcos gave you a date months out, you can start here without dropping off their list.
Where is the nearest Lyte office to New Braunfels?
There is none nearby. Our only clinic is in Pantego, inside Arlington, about 240 miles up I-35 from New Braunfels, and we treat Comal County as a video-only area. You never need to drive anywhere for a Lyte visit, with one exception: a first evaluation for a stimulant has to happen in person at Pantego, so New Braunfels patients usually start with a non-stimulant by video.
I commute on I-35 to San Antonio or Austin. Can I do the visit from work?
Yes, as long as you are inside Texas and somewhere private. Many New Braunfels commuters take the video visit from a parked car before the drive home or from a closed office at lunch. You need a stable connection and a spot where no one can listen. Which county you sit in that hour makes no difference.
How much will a New Braunfels visit cost me with insurance and without?
With an in-network plan such as BCBS TX, UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Cigna, or TRS-ActiveCare through Comal ISD, most patients pay a $0–$30 copay per visit. Without insurance, the new-patient psychiatric evaluation is $250, a medication follow-up is $150, and a first therapy session is $150, the same prices whether you live in Gruene or out at Canyon Lake.
I teach in Comal ISD and my student-day ends at 4. Can you see my own teenager after that?
Yes. Dr. Akintola is board-certified in child and adolescent psychiatry, and a Comal ISD or New Braunfels ISD student can be evaluated by video within 1–2 business days. Tell us at booking that the visit needs to land after the school day and we will find the closest fit. We write letters for the campus on request.
Can I start ADHD medication from New Braunfels without driving to Pantego?
For a non-stimulant, yes, by video within 1–2 business days. 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. For a New Braunfels patient that is a 240-mile drive each way, so most choose to begin with a non-stimulant by video and revisit the question with the prescriber later.
Hill Country MHDD put me on a waitlist. Can Lyte see me in the meantime?
Yes, if you have insurance or can pay the $250 self-pay evaluation. Hill Country MHDD Centers, the Comal County public mental health authority, prioritizes residents without coverage, and its waitlist does not stop you from starting care here. Keep your place there if you want it; we will send our notes to whichever provider you keep long term.
Nearby areas we also serve
Explore care across San Antonio & South Texas or all Texas locations.
We also see patients from San Antonio, Schertz and Cibolo, Seguin, San Marcos, Kyle and Buda, and Austin.
Free and low-cost mental health resources in New Braunfels
Hill Country MHDD Centers is the public mental health authority for Comal County and serves residents without insurance first. Call or text 988 at any hour for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. In an emergency, the emergency departments at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital New Braunfels and Resolute Health Hospital are the nearest in-person crisis options in the city, and the Center for Health Care Services in San Antonio serves Bexar County residents 30 miles south.
Book a video visit at book.lytepsych.com and we will confirm 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.