Yes. Lyte Psychiatry sees San Marcos patients by secure video, from a dorm on the Texas State campus or an apartment off Aquarena Springs Dr, with the same provider 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.
Who is this San Marcos page for?
Picture a parent in Houston or Dallas on the phone with a Texas State sophomore who has not been to class in two weeks. The Counseling Center on campus offered an intake date a month out. The parent cannot drive to San Marcos every week, the student does not have a car, and neither of them knows which local practice takes the family's insurance. This page answers that call. The student books a video visit, is usually seen within 1–2 business days, and the parent's PPO covers it.
San Marcos is also a working city. San Marcos CISD teachers and staff, nurses and techs at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa San Marcos, the outlet mall and warehouse workforce along I-35, and the Texas State faculty and staff on the state employee plan all share one problem: a psychiatrist who takes insurance is hard to find between Austin and San Antonio. Hill Country MHDD Centers, the public mental health authority for Hays County, serves uninsured residents and crisis cases first, which is the right priority and also why an insured teacher with panic attacks is told to look elsewhere.
Texas State enrolls about 38,000 students, and in a city of 57,268 adults that shapes who needs care and how they can get it. A large share of San Marcos adults are 18 to 24, new to managing their own health, and away from the doctor who knew them. Video psychiatry fits that reader well.
What can Lyte treat for San Marcos patients?
Psychiatric evaluation and medication management for adults, teens, and children. Therapy with licensed professional counselors using CBT, solution-focused, and trauma-focused approaches. Combined care, where the prescriber and the counselor share one chart and read each other's notes. ADHD evaluation and treatment for adults and teens.
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. Dr. Akintola is a licensed Suboxone prescriber for opioid use disorder. We write clinical letters on request, including the documentation a Texas State student needs for a medical withdrawal or an accommodation request through the Disability Services office.
Mode: video only, no drive. We have no office in San Marcos, and our single clinic in Pantego, outside Arlington, is about 200 miles north on I-35. Nobody in Hays County should make that trip for a psychiatry visit, and we will not suggest it. Every San Marcos appointment is by secure video, with the same provider each time.
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. A Texas State student who wants ADHD treatment without a trip north can start a non-stimulant at the first video visit and reassess with the same prescriber later.
Prescriptions are sent electronically to the pharmacy you choose, whether that is the H-E-B on Hopkins St or a chain near campus. Video visits are available in Spanish; ask when you book.
Learn how therapy and psychiatry work together when both are part of your care plan.
What the numbers say about San Marcos
San Marcos adults report more distress than Austin or the state as a whole. CDC PLACES (BRFSS 2023) puts frequent mental distress, meaning 14 or more poor mental health days in a month, at 22.3% of San Marcos adults. Austin, 30 miles north, is at 16.9%, and Texas as a whole is at 16.1%. Diagnosed depression follows the same pattern: 25.6% in San Marcos against 23.0% in Austin and 19.7% for Texas. Applied to the 57,268 adults in San Marcos, which sits in Hays County, counted in the same release, the distress figure is about 12,800 people.
Part of that gap is age. A college town skews toward 18-to-24-year-olds, many of them managing their own health for the first time. The other part is supply. Austin, as our Austin page describes, has far more therapists than psychiatrists who take insurance, and San Marcos, a fraction of Austin's size, has fewer of both.
| Measure | San Marcos | Austin | Texas | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (14+ bad days/month) | 22.3% | 16.9% | 16.1% | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
| Adults diagnosed with depression | 25.6% | 23.0% | 19.7% | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
| Adult population | 57,268 | 775,434 | 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 San Marcos 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 |
Three kinds of insurance cards are typical for San Marcos. Students are usually still on a parent's plan, often a BCBS TX, UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, or Cigna PPO issued in Houston or Dallas, and those work by video here the same as they would at home. Texas State faculty and staff are state employees on HealthSelect through ERS, which BlueCross BlueShield of Texas administers. San Marcos CISD staff are usually on TRS-ActiveCare, also administered by BCBS TX. A student without coverage can pay the flat $250 for an evaluation and $150 for follow-ups, and a parent can put the card on file from another city. HSA and FSA cards are accepted.
Who will you see at Lyte?
Two prescribers and three counselors. 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, trained at Johns Hopkins, on its faculty afterward, and in Texas since 2012. Toyin Awe, PMHNP-BC, is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner with 12 or more years of experience. NaTascha Jones, LPC, and Prishina Jimenez, LPC, handle therapy. Lyte has served 3,000+ patients and holds a 4.9-star average across 200+ Google reviews.
Your questions, answered
Frequently asked questions from San Marcos patients
Can a Texas State student see a psychiatrist online from San Marcos?
Yes. Any Texas State student physically in Texas can book a secure video visit with Lyte Psychiatry and is usually seen within 1–2 business days. You do not need a referral from the Student Health Center or the Counseling Center, and you can use a parent's insurance card from another Texas city. Visits happen from your dorm or apartment in San Marcos on a phone or laptop.
Is there a Lyte office in San Marcos or anywhere in Hays County?
No. San Marcos is video only. Our one clinic is in Pantego, outside Arlington, about 200 miles north on I-35, and there is no reason for a Hays County patient to drive it. The only service that requires the Pantego office is a first stimulant evaluation for ADHD; non-stimulant ADHD medication and every other treatment start by video from San Marcos.
How fast can I be seen from San Marcos?
Most new San Marcos patients are seen within 1–2 business days of booking online. If the Texas State Counseling Center has given you an intake date weeks out, or Hill Country MHDD has placed you on a list because you are insured, you can start here first. Book at book.lytepsych.com at any hour; benefits are verified before the visit.
What will a San Marcos visit cost with insurance, and without it?
With an in-network plan such as BCBS TX, HealthSelect, TRS-ActiveCare, UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, or Cigna, most San Marcos 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 same prices apply whether you book from a dorm on campus or a house off Wonder World Dr.
I am a parent in Houston or Dallas. Can I book for my student at Texas State?
You can pay and you can help, but a student who is 18 or older books and consents to care in their own name, and the visit is theirs. You may join the video call if your student invites you. If your student is under 18, you book, and a parent attends. Either way, the student must be in Texas at the time of the visit, which covers a dorm in San Marcos or a bedroom at home over break.
Can I start ADHD medication by video from my apartment near Texas State?
A non-stimulant, yes, at the first video 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. Bring any prior testing or a 504 plan from your high school, and we will write the letter Texas State Disability Services asks for.
What happens to my care when I leave San Marcos for the summer?
If you go home to Houston, Dallas, El Paso, or anywhere else in Texas, nothing changes; you keep the same provider and the same video link. If you take an internship out of state, we cannot see you while you are there, because Texas licensing covers Texas only. Tell us the dates before you leave and we will plan refills and a follow-up for when you are back in San Marcos.
Nearby areas we also serve
Explore care across Austin & Central Texas or all Texas locations.
Patients from Kyle and Buda, New Braunfels, Seguin, Austin, and San Antonio are seen the same way, by video, with the same providers.
Free and low-cost mental health resources in San Marcos
Hill Country MHDD Centers is the public mental health authority for Hays County and serves residents without insurance. Call or text 988 any time for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Texas State students can use the Counseling Center on campus for short-term counseling while enrolled. CHRISTUS Santa Rosa San Marcos has an emergency room for a psychiatric emergency.
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.