Yes. Lyte Psychiatry sees Austin patients by secure video from anywhere in Travis County, with the same prescriber at every visit. Most new patients are seen within 1–2 business days. If we are in network with your plan, you usually pay a $0–$30 copay per visit. Without insurance, a new-patient psychiatric evaluation is $250.
Who is this Austin page for?
The Counseling and Mental Health Center in the Student Services Building on Dean Keeton St offers UT Austin students short-term counseling. When those sessions end, students leave with a referral list, and the list does not fix the problem: Austin has plenty of therapists and almost no psychiatrists who take insurance, with most quoting cash rates north of $300 a visit. A junior with the UT student plan should not have to pay that to keep a sertraline prescription going. Neither should the state employee across town at the Capitol complex on an ERS HealthSelect plan, or the engineer at Apple's campus off Parmer Lane whose company PPO covers psychiatry but whose search for a prescriber keeps landing on cash-only practices in Tarrytown and Westlake.
Integral Care, the public mental health authority for Travis County, serves people who need sliding-scale or immediate local services, and it prioritizes those without coverage. Dell Medical School's psychiatry clinics are academic and referral-driven. If you have a commercial plan, Medicare, Tricare, or $250, the fastest path is a private practice that bills your plan and has a slot this week.
What can Lyte treat for Austin 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 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 school, work, or clearance are written on request. Dr. Akintola is a licensed Suboxone prescriber for opioid use disorder.
Every Austin visit is by secure video. There is no Lyte office in Austin, and our clinic in Pantego is about 200 miles up I-35 in the Arlington area, which is not a reasonable drive for anyone, so we will not suggest it. You log in from your apartment in Riverside or a parked car in the Dell Med garage on Red River, and you see the same provider each time. Any prescription goes electronically to your Austin pharmacy the same 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. For most Austin adults with ADHD, that means we start a non-stimulant by video. You decide later whether a one-time trip north for a stimulant evaluation is worth it. 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 Austin
Austin adults carry a higher rate of diagnosed depression than their neighbors up I-35. CDC PLACES (BRFSS 2023) puts diagnosed depression among Austin adults at 23%, compared with 21.2% in Round Rock. Frequent mental distress, meaning 14 or more poor mental health days in a month, is 16.9% in Austin against 16.6% in Round Rock. The same release counts 775,434 adults in Austin, which sits in Travis County, so the depression figure alone covers roughly 178,000 people, more than twice the entire adult population of Round Rock.
Supply is the other half. Austin has plenty of therapists and few psychiatrists who take insurance, and most of the cash-only practices quote rates north of $300 a visit. A prescriber who bills BCBS TX or UnitedHealthcare and has a slot within 1–2 business days is what most people in Travis County cannot find, and it is what this page offers.
| Measure | Austin | Round Rock | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adults diagnosed with depression | 23% | 21.2% | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
| Frequent mental distress (14+ bad days/month) | 16.9% | 16.6% | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
| Adult population | 775,434 | 88,250 | 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 an online psychiatrist cost in Austin 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, with no surprise facility fee, and HSA and FSA cards are accepted. Austin's two biggest employers of insured patients are the State of Texas and the university. State employees and retirees on ERS HealthSelect are on a plan administered by BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, and UT Austin faculty and staff on UT SELECT are also on BCBS TX, so both groups are in network here. Tech employers along Parmer Lane, at the Domain, and out at Giga Texas tend to offer national PPOs from carriers such as UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, or Cigna, all in network here. UT students on the university-sponsored student health plan should send us the card; we will confirm the copay before the first visit. If your only option was a $300-plus cash visit, the difference over a year of monthly follow-ups is real money.
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, 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 and holds a 4.9-star average across 200+ Google reviews.
Your questions, answered
Frequently asked questions from Austin patients
Can an Austin resident get a video psychiatry appointment this week?
Yes. Most new Austin patients are seen within 1–2 business days by secure video. Book online at any hour. You do not need a referral from a primary care doctor, from UT's Counseling and Mental Health Center, or from Integral Care to start.
Does Lyte have an office in Austin?
No. All Austin care is by secure video, and we are not going to pretend our Pantego clinic near Arlington, about 200 miles north on I-35, is a reasonable trip. The one exception is a stimulant start for ADHD, which by our policy needs an in-person first evaluation there. Everything else, including non-stimulant ADHD treatment, starts and stays on video.
I used up my sessions at UT's Counseling and Mental Health Center. Can you take over my medication?
Yes. CMHC in the Student Services Building offers short-term care, and when it ends many students still need a prescriber. Send us your card for the UT student health plan or your parents' plan, and we can usually see you within 1–2 business days. Ask CMHC to send us your records so nothing restarts from zero.
What will I pay in Austin with insurance, and what if I have none?
With BCBS TX, UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Ambetter, Medicare, or Tricare, most patients pay a $0–$30 copay per visit. Without insurance, the first psychiatric evaluation is $250 and a medication follow-up is $150, which is under half of the $300-plus cash rates most Austin psychiatrists quote.
I am a State of Texas employee on HealthSelect. Are you in network?
Yes. ERS HealthSelect of Texas is administered by BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, which we accept. The same goes for UT SELECT, the plan for UT Austin employees. Whether you work in the Capitol complex or at an agency office in North Austin, you can book a video visit from a break room and we will verify the copay first.
I work at Apple or Tesla in Austin. Can I fit a visit around a shift or a sprint?
Yes. Video visits do not require leaving the Parmer Lane campus or the plant off SH 130; a private room or a parked car works. Tell us your shift pattern when you book and we will match a slot to it. If your company PPO is UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, or Cigna, it is in network here; send us the card and we confirm the copay before the first visit.
Can I do my Austin video visit in Spanish?
Yes. Video visits are available in Spanish; ask when you book. This applies to patients anywhere in Travis County, from Dove Springs to Del Valle, and to therapy as well as medication visits.
Nearby areas we also serve
Explore care across Austin & Central Texas or all Texas locations.
We also see patients from Round Rock, Cedar Park and Leander, Pflugerville, Georgetown, Kyle and Buda, and San Marcos.
Free and low-cost mental health resources in Austin
Integral Care is the public mental health authority for Travis County and offers sliding-scale services for residents who need immediate or low-cost local care. Call or text 988 any time for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Dell Medical School Psychiatry at UT Austin runs academic clinics, NAMI Austin offers free peer support groups and family classes, and Caritas of Austin helps people facing homelessness connect with services.
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.