Schizophrenia treatment in Texas
Telehealth psychiatric care for adults — based in Austin, serving patients statewide.
Schizophrenia is a serious but treatable brain disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and perceives the world. It is most often diagnosed in late adolescence or early adulthood, and exists on a spectrum that includes schizoaffective disorder (schizophrenia symptoms plus mood episodes), schizophreniform disorder (a shorter-duration presentation), and brief psychotic disorder. Despite its reputation, schizophrenia is not a story of inevitable decline — many people live full, meaningful, productive lives with consistent treatment, the right medication regimen, and stable support.
Care here is steady and longitudinal. The aim is not to argue you out of an experience but to partner with you across phases of illness — through stabilization, recovery, and the long stretches of relative calm in between. Family members and chosen support people are welcomed into the work when you want them included. Treatment is evidence-based, non-judgmental, and built around what helps you live the life you actually want to live.
Signs you may benefit from treatment
- Hearing voices or sounds others do not hear
- Visual experiences or perceptions others do not share
- Strong beliefs that feel certain to you but conflict with what others see (delusions)
- Thoughts that race, jump, or feel inserted from outside
- Speech that is disorganized or hard for others to follow
- A sense that strangers, the news, or technology are referring to you specifically
- Reduced motivation, energy, or pleasure (negative symptoms)
- Flattened emotional expression or social withdrawal
- Trouble concentrating or thinking through tasks (cognitive symptoms)
- Sleep changes — staying up at night with active or distressing thoughts
- Family members worried about behavioral changes you may not see in yourself
- A first episode of psychosis, or recurring episodes after a period of stability
How Eki Mental Health PLLC treats schizophrenia
A careful diagnostic evaluation is the first step. Many conditions can produce psychotic symptoms — including bipolar disorder, severe depression, substance-induced psychosis, medical conditions, and trauma — and getting the diagnosis right shapes every treatment decision that follows. We'll take a thorough history, review any prior records, and rule out medical contributors. Where it helps, and with your consent, we incorporate input from family or close support people.
From there, treatment focuses on antipsychotic medication management as the foundation, paired with attention to sleep, substance use, social rhythm, and the practical scaffolding (housing, work, family, benefits) that supports recovery. We work at your pace, listen to your experience of medications, and adjust thoughtfully. Long-acting injectable antipsychotics are an option for patients who prefer them, often with significantly better outcomes than daily pills.
If you are currently in an active psychotic episode with safety concerns, please call 988 or 911, or call Austin Travis County Integral Care 24/7 Crisis Line: 512-472-4357. Telehealth is not the right level of care for acute crisis — but I can be part of your stabilization plan once safety is established.
Treatment options
1. Second-generation (atypical) antipsychotics
Atypical antipsychotics are the first-line option for most patients today, with generally better tolerability than older medications:
- Risperidone (Risperdal) — well-studied, broadly effective.
- Olanzapine (Zyprexa) — strong efficacy; metabolic side effects require monitoring.
- Quetiapine (Seroquel) — useful when sleep and anxiety are prominent.
- Aripiprazole (Abilify) — partial dopamine agonist; often weight- and metabolism-friendlier.
- Lurasidone (Latuda), cariprazine (Vraylar), brexpiprazole (Rexulti), paliperidone (Invega) — each with its own profile; we match to your symptom picture, side-effect tolerance, and lifestyle.
- Clozapine — gold standard for treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Requires close monitoring (weekly to monthly blood draws); we coordinate with a clozapine REMS-certified pharmacy and your primary-care doctor when this is the right path.
2. Long-acting injectables (LAIs)
For many patients, a monthly or every-three-month injection beats daily pills — both for convenience and for outcomes. LAIs reduce the cognitive load of remembering daily doses and dramatically lower relapse risk for patients who have struggled with consistent oral adherence. Available LAIs include risperidone, paliperidone (monthly and 3-month formulations), aripiprazole, and olanzapine. We'll discuss whether an LAI fits your situation.
3. Monitoring and physical health
Antipsychotics require ongoing physical-health monitoring: weight, blood pressure, fasting glucose and lipids, prolactin in some cases, and movement-side-effect screens (using validated tools like the AIMS scale). We coordinate this monitoring with your primary-care doctor or local lab. If we are catching emerging metabolic issues early, we can adjust the regimen before they become problems.
4. Supportive therapy and family education
Medication is necessary but rarely sufficient. We coordinate with therapists trained in psychosis-aware care (CBT for psychosis, supportive therapy, social-skills work) and connect families with NAMI Family-to-Family education and local Austin support groups. The Austin/Travis County peer-support and community-mental-health infrastructure is a real asset — we use it.
5. Comorbid substance use, mood, and trauma
Substance use and trauma are common alongside schizophrenia, and treating them improves psychiatric outcomes substantially. We integrate care across these layers rather than treating one diagnosis at a time. For dedicated substance-use treatment beyond what medication management addresses, we coordinate with Austin specialty programs.
What to expect at your first visit
Your first visit is a comprehensive 60–90-minute evaluation. We will walk through your history together — including any earlier episodes, prior medication trials, family history, current symptoms, and what daily life looks like. With your consent, we may invite a family member or close support person to be part of part of the visit, since they often see things you may not see in yourself.
If you are in an active psychotic episode with safety concerns, please call 988 or 911, or call Austin Travis County Integral Care 24/7 Crisis: 512-472-4357 immediately. Telehealth is not the right level of care for acute psychotic crisis — but I can be part of your longitudinal care once you are stabilized.
Optional: GeneSight pharmacogenomic testing
If you'd like, we can order GeneSight at your first visit — a simple cheek-swab genetic test that analyzes how your body metabolizes psychiatric medications and provides a clinician-facing report to guide prescribing.
Benefits:
- Reduces medication trial-and-error by predicting which medications you're likely to tolerate well
- Identifies medications you may metabolize too quickly (less effective) or too slowly (more side effects)
- Especially useful if you've had a hard time tolerating medications in the past or first-line options haven't worked
- Covers 60+ psychiatric medications — antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, anxiolytics, ADHD meds
- One-time test — your genes don't change, so results stay relevant for life and follow you to future prescribers
- Non-invasive cheek swab; results typically return within 2–3 days
Entirely optional — we only order it if you want it. Insurance coverage varies; we'll review cost and coverage with you before ordering.
Insurance & cost
In-network with Aetna and UnitedHealthcare / Optum; most insured patients pay $20–$60 per visit after benefits. Self-pay rates: $400 initial evaluation, $250 standard follow-up. Superbill provided for out-of-network reimbursement. Full pricing & insurance details →