Yes. Lyte Psychiatry sees Kingsville patients by secure video from anywhere in Kleberg County, including NAS Kingsville housing and the Texas A&M-Kingsville campus. 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. Video visits are available in Spanish.
Who this Kingsville page is written for
The counseling office at Texas A&M University-Kingsville does good work with a short bench, and a Javelina who has used up the sessions the campus can offer, and whose sleep and grades are still sliding, has nowhere obvious to go next. The nearest psychiatrists who take a parent's BCBS TX or Aetna plan are in Corpus Christi, 40 miles up US-77, and their waitlists are sized for a city of 300,000 people, which is no help to a student who needs to be stable before finals. That student, or the parent in Houston or San Antonio paying the tuition, is the first person this page is written for.
The second is a family at Naval Air Station Kingsville. Training Air Wing 2 runs advanced jet training there, and student aviators and instructors cycle through on orders. A spouse enrolled in Tricare Prime, with a child in Kingsville ISD and a husband flying T-45s five days a week, has a referral pointed at a practice in Corpus Christi and a calendar that cannot absorb the drive. A retired chief who stayed in Kingsville after his last tour, now on Medicare and Tricare for Life, has the same distance problem with a different card.
Coastal Plains Community Center is the public mental health authority for Kleberg County and serves people without coverage first. CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Kleberg is the county's hospital, and its emergency department is where a crisis lands. Neither is set up to give an insured adult a psychiatrist this week. That insured adult is who we see.
What can Lyte treat for a Kingsville patient?
Psychiatric evaluation and medication management for adults, teens, and children. Dr. Akintola is board-certified in child and adolescent psychiatry, so a Kingsville ISD student can be evaluated by the same practice as a parent. Therapy with licensed professional counselors using CBT, solution-focused, and trauma-focused work. Combined care, where your prescriber and your therapist write in one chart. ADHD evaluation and treatment for adults and teens, with stimulant and non-stimulant options.
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. Clinical letters for school, work, or command are written on request.
Kingsville is video only. Our one clinic is in Pantego, inside Arlington, close to 400 miles north on US-77 and I-35, and we will not pretend that is a drive a Kleberg County patient should make for a 30-minute follow-up. You take the visit from your apartment near campus or from base housing, as long as you are in Texas at the time. A parked truck on King Ranch land works too if that is the only private spot on your shift. The same provider sees you every 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. A TAMUK student who needs ADHD treatment this semester can start a non-stimulant by video this week and talk through the stimulant question with the prescriber later.
Video visits are available in Spanish; ask when you book. Prescriptions go electronically to the pharmacy you name, whether that is the H-E-B on S 14th St or the base pharmacy at the Naval Branch Health Clinic if you fill there. When therapy is part of the plan, the counselor's first session is booked before the first visit ends.
Learn how therapy and psychiatry work together when both are part of your care plan.
What the numbers say about Kingsville
Kingsville adults report more diagnosed depression and more frequent distress than the bigger city up the road. CDC PLACES (BRFSS 2023) puts diagnosed depression among Kingsville adults at 21.2%, against 20.4% in Corpus Christi. Frequent mental distress, defined as 14 or more poor mental health days in a month, is 18.4% in Kingsville and 16.8% in Corpus Christi. Kingsville (Kleberg County) has 19,459 adults in the same release, so the distress figure is roughly 3,600 people, in a county where the specialist a doctor would refer them to is in Nueces County.
Texas as a whole sits at 19.7% for diagnosed depression and 16.1% for frequent distress, so Kingsville is above the state on both. The Texas Department of State Health Services reported in 2025 that 162 of the state's 254 counties had no psychiatrist.
| Measure | Kingsville | Corpus Christi | Texas | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults diagnosed with depression | 21.2% | 20.4% | 19.7% | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
| Frequent mental distress (14+ bad days/month) | 18.4% | 16.8% | 16.1% | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
| Adult population (Kleberg County) | 19,459 | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 | ||
| Texas counties with no psychiatrist | 162 | Texas DSHS, 2025 |
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.
Does Lyte take Tricare and TRS-ActiveCare in Kingsville, and what does a visit cost?
Both. 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 |
Kingsville sends us four kinds of cards. Tricare from NAS Kingsville families, where Select members and most Prime family members can book directly and active duty sailors on Prime need a referral from their primary care manager at the Naval Branch Health Clinic first. TRS-ActiveCare through BCBS TX from Kingsville ISD teachers and staff. The university's plan for TAMUK faculty and staff, which is a BCBS TX product, and a parent's commercial PPO for TAMUK students who are still on the family policy. Medicare, often paired with Tricare for Life, for Navy retirees who stayed in Kingsville. Send a photo of the card when you book and we tell you the copay before you are seen. Self-pay is a flat price, and HSA and FSA cards are accepted.
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 Kingsville patients
Is there a psychiatrist who sees Kingsville patients by video this week?
Yes. Most new Kingsville patients are seen within 1–2 business days, and booking is online at any hour. That is faster than the drive to Corpus Christi plus whatever wait the Corpus Christi practice has. A TAMUK student can take the visit from a dorm room or the library with a headset; a NAS Kingsville spouse can take it from base housing while the kids are at school.
Does Lyte take Tricare for NAS Kingsville families, and does a Prime referral matter?
Yes, Tricare is in network. Tricare Select members and most Tricare Prime family members can book with us directly, and we verify with the Tricare regional contractor before the first visit. Active duty sailors and Marines on Prime need a referral from their primary care manager at the Naval Branch Health Clinic on base, and aviators in Training Air Wing 2 should talk to flight medicine first, because mental health treatment can affect flight status. A spouse or child in base housing can be seen by video within 1–2 business days.
I am a student at Texas A&M-Kingsville and ran out of campus counseling sessions. What now?
Book here and keep any notes the campus office gave you. Our prescriber can evaluate you by video from your apartment or dorm, start medication if it fits, and pair you with a licensed counselor in the same chart if talk therapy should continue. If you are still on a parent's BCBS TX, Aetna, or UnitedHealthcare plan, that plan usually covers the visit at a $0–$30 copay. If you are on the TAMUK student plan or no plan, the evaluation is $250 self-pay and follow-ups are $150.
How far is the nearest Lyte office from Kingsville?
Too far to matter. Our only clinic is at 2900 W Park Row Dr in Pantego, inside Arlington, close to 400 miles north of Kingsville. We do not have an office in Corpus Christi or the Coastal Bend. Every Kingsville patient is seen by secure video. The one exception under our policy is a first stimulant evaluation for ADHD, which is why we usually offer a Kleberg County patient a non-stimulant to start.
What will a visit cost me in Kingsville with insurance versus paying cash?
With Tricare, TRS-ActiveCare through BCBS TX, Medicare, or another in-network plan, most patients pay a $0–$30 copay per visit, and we confirm the number 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. Compare that with a day off work at the King Ranch or the Celanese plant in Bishop to drive to a Corpus Christi office that may not take your card.
¿Puedo tener mi consulta psiquiátrica en español desde Kingsville?
Sí. Video visits are available in Spanish; ask when you book. Kleberg County is majority Hispanic, and a lot of Kingsville families are more exact in Spanish when the subject is sleep or a child's behavior. Say at booking that you want the visit in Spanish and we schedule it that way. Prescriptions still go to your Kingsville pharmacy that day.
My child is at H.M. King High School and a counselor suggested an evaluation. Can Lyte do that by video?
Yes. Dr. Akintola is board-certified in child and adolescent psychiatry and evaluates Kingsville ISD students by video with a parent in the room. Bring the school's notes and any prior testing to the first visit. When a diagnosis changes what a student needs in class, we write a letter to the school on request. A Navy child covered by Tricare is seen the same way.
Nearby areas we also serve
Explore care across San Antonio & South Texas or all Texas locations.
We also see patients by video in Corpus Christi, Victoria, Harlingen, and Laredo, and from anywhere in Kleberg County, including Bishop, Ricardo, and Riviera.
Free and low-cost mental health resources in Kingsville
Coastal Plains Community Center is the public mental health authority for Kleberg County and the first call for residents without insurance. Call or text 988 any time to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, in English or Spanish. CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Kleberg has the emergency department for a crisis that cannot wait. Texas A&M-Kingsville students can start with the campus counseling office, and NAS Kingsville families can reach the Naval Branch Health Clinic, the Fleet and Family Support Center, and Military OneSource for confidential non-medical counseling.
Book a video visit at book.lytepsych.com and we will verify Tricare, TRS-ActiveCare, 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.