Yes. Lyte Psychiatry sees Nacogdoches patients by secure video, whether you are in a dorm on the SFA campus, a house off North Street, or a farm out past Appleby. Most new patients are seen within 1–2 business days. In-network patients usually pay a $0–$30 copay per visit, and a self-pay psychiatric evaluation is $250.
Who this page is for in Nacogdoches
It is the third week of the semester at Stephen F. Austin State University. Campus counseling can cover the talk-therapy side, and if you need medication you may be pointed to a psychiatrist off campus, which around here often means a name in Tyler or Houston. Your parents are in Katy or Plano and want you seen by someone who takes the family's insurance, without you missing two days of class to drive there.
If you are the parent of that student, reading this from 150 miles away and wondering whether you can book on your kid's behalf, the answer is below. The page also fits a nurse at Nacogdoches Medical Center who works three twelves and cannot get to Tyler on a weekday, and a Nacogdoches ISD teacher on TRS-ActiveCare whose family doctor has run out of ideas for anxiety that will not settle. Burke Center is the public mental health authority for Nacogdoches County, and it does good work for people without insurance and people in crisis. If you have a commercial plan or Medicare and a non-emergency problem, you are usually waiting behind those patients.
Nacogdoches is a county seat with a university and a hospital, and a short list of psychiatrists. If you can pay a copay or $250 and have a camera, we can see you this week.
What can a Nacogdoches patient be treated for by video?
Medication evaluation and ongoing management for adults, teens, and children. Counseling with a licensed professional counselor, using CBT, solution-focused, and trauma-focused methods. If you need both, the prescriber and counselor share one chart, so your SFA-semester story gets told once. ADHD evaluation and treatment for adults and teens.
Conditions include 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 for SFA disability services, Nacogdoches ISD, or an employer on request.
Nacogdoches is video only. Lyte has one clinic, in Pantego on the west side of Arlington, about 190 miles away by US-259 to I-20, or through Tyler. Nobody in Nacogdoches County should be driving that for a 20-minute medication check, and we will not suggest it. You will see the same clinician at every 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. An SFA student who goes home to DFW for a break can schedule that one in-person stimulant evaluation in Pantego during the visit and do every follow-up by video from Nacogdoches; a student with no reason to be in DFW can start a non-stimulant by video instead. Video visits are available in Spanish; ask when you book.
Prescriptions are sent electronically to the pharmacy you choose in Nacogdoches, including the pharmacies along North Street and University Drive near campus. If you are a student, use your local pharmacy during the semester and tell us when you head home for summer so we can switch it.
What the numbers say about Nacogdoches
Nacogdoches runs higher than Lufkin and well above Texas on both measures we track. CDC PLACES (BRFSS 2023) reports that 26.0% of Nacogdoches adults have been diagnosed with depression. Lufkin, twenty miles south on US-59, is at 22.9%, and Texas overall is at 19.7%. Frequent mental distress, defined as 14 or more poor mental health days in a month, is 22.7% in Nacogdoches, against 19.4% in Lufkin and 16.1% for Texas. The same release counts 25,683 adults in Nacogdoches. At 22.7%, that is roughly 5,800 adults with frequent distress inside the city.
| Measure | Nacogdoches | Lufkin | Texas | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults diagnosed with depression | 26.0% | 22.9% | 19.7% | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
| Frequent mental distress (14+ bad days/month) | 22.7% | 19.4% | 16.1% | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
| Adult population, Nacogdoches | 25,683 | CDC PLACES, BRFSS 2023 |
Texas DSHS counted 162 Texas counties with no psychiatrist in 2025. Nacogdoches has a hospital and a university, and the rural counties around it send patients here as well, so a one-in-four depression rate lands on a small, shared pool of prescribers.
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 in Nacogdoches cost 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, posted price with no facility fee, and HSA and FSA cards are accepted. For SFA students the usual coverage is a parent's plan, most often BCBS TX, UnitedHealthcare, or Aetna from a DFW or Houston employer, and we can bill it from Nacogdoches like any other in-network visit. SFA and University of Texas System employees are typically on UT SELECT, a BCBS TX plan, which we accept. Nacogdoches ISD staff are on TRS-ActiveCare through BCBS TX. Hospital employees at Nacogdoches Medical Center should check the carrier on their card. Medicare covers retirees in town and out in the county.
Who will you see as a Nacogdoches patient?
Your prescriber is either Dr. Akinwande Akintola, MD, our medical director and supervisory psychiatrist, board-certified in Adult Psychiatry and in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, who trained at Johns Hopkins and moved to Texas in 2012, or Toyin Awe, PMHNP-BC, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner with 12+ years of experience. Counseling is with NaTascha Jones, LPC, or Prishina Jimenez, LPC. Lyte has served 3,000+ patients and has a 4.9-star average across 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 Nacogdoches patients
Can an SFA student in Nacogdoches see a psychiatrist by video?
Yes. Any Stephen F. Austin State University student physically in Texas can be seen by secure video, from a dorm room, an apartment near campus, or a car in a campus lot if privacy is the problem. You need a Texas location at the time of the visit, a camera, and either an insurance card or $250. Campus counseling and Lyte can run at the same time; we are the medication side.
Is there a Lyte clinic in Nacogdoches, and how far is the nearest one?
There is no Lyte clinic in Nacogdoches or anywhere in Deep East Texas. Our only office is in Pantego, inside Arlington, about 190 miles from Nacogdoches by US-259 north to I-20 and west into DFW, or through Tyler. Nacogdoches is video-only for us on purpose, and the single exception is the first in-person evaluation before a stimulant is started.
How soon can I be seen from Nacogdoches after I book?
Most new Nacogdoches patients are seen within 1–2 business days. That includes students booking mid-semester and county residents booking between shifts at Pilgrim's or the hospital. Book online at any hour and take the first open slot; there is no waitlist step in between.
What does it cost for a Nacogdoches patient with insurance versus paying cash?
With an in-network plan, including a parent's BCBS TX or UnitedHealthcare plan for an SFA student, TRS-ActiveCare for Nacogdoches ISD staff, or UT SELECT for SFA employees, most visits cost $0–$30. Paying cash, a psychiatric evaluation is $250, a medication follow-up is $150, a first therapy session is $150, and later therapy sessions are $125. A QbCheck ADHD test is $150 either way when not covered.
I am a parent in another city. Can I book for my student at SFA?
You can book the appointment and handle the insurance, and we will send the video link to your student. If your student is 18 or older, they are the patient: they sign their own consent, and we share information with you only with their written permission. If your student is under 18, you give consent as the parent and join the first visit. A parent in Plano, Katy, Sugar Land, or anywhere else in Texas can do this for a Nacogdoches student.
What happens to my care when I leave Nacogdoches for the summer?
Nothing changes as long as you are still in Texas. Your provider stays the same, your video visits continue from wherever you are staying, and we move your prescription to a pharmacy near your summer address. If you are spending the summer outside Texas, tell us before you leave so we can plan refills, because Texas licensing means we cannot hold a video visit while you are out of state.
Does Nacogdoches Medical Center or Burke Center handle emergencies, and where does Lyte fit?
Nacogdoches Medical Center has an emergency department for a psychiatric emergency, and Burke Center, the public mental health authority for Nacogdoches County, runs crisis services. Call or text 988 at any hour. Lyte is for scheduled care by video, meaning evaluation, medication management, and counseling once the emergency has passed.
Nearby areas we also serve
Explore care across East Texas or all Texas locations.
Video visits are also available to patients in Lufkin, Tyler, Longview, and Huntsville.
Free and low-cost mental health resources in Nacogdoches
Burke Center is the public mental health authority for Nacogdoches County and serves residents without insurance and those in crisis. Call or text 988 any time to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Stephen F. Austin State University offers counseling services to enrolled students at no added cost, and that is the right first stop for a student who is unsure whether they need medication. Nacogdoches Medical Center's emergency department is the place for an immediate danger to yourself or someone else.
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.