Many of us come to therapy feeling caught in the same painful patterns—conflicts that loop, disconnection that deepens, or a quiet sense that something is missing. We try to fix ourselves, our partners, or the relationship, only to end up feeling even further from what we truly long for. At the Center for Couples & Self, we don’t believe you need fixing. We believe your emotions hold a natural intelligence—one that’s often buried beneath layers of protection built over time. Our work is about gently uncovering what’s already inside you: the longings, fears, and truths that help you feel more connected to yourself and to those you love. We will help you reconnect with the simplicity and clarity of your emotional world and explore all it has to offer your most important relationships.
As doctoral-level providers with years of experience, we bring both clinical expertise and personal understanding to this work. We are a husband and wife team with our own trials and tribulations in “getting it right,” and we are eager to partner with you as fellow human beings. We invite you to explore this site to learn more about who we are and how we work. If it feels like we might be a good fit for you or your partner, please reach out. We’d be honored to connect.
What Former Clients Have To Say:
“My husband and I only have the best things to say about Dr. Ko! We understand that choosing a therapist is a personal decision and is often based on a personality fit, but for us, there could be absolutely no one better than Dr. Ko. At a time when our relationship was in crisis, we were desperately looking for a couples therapist. From the first session, we were comforted, impressed, and hopeful. After three years, we can say that Dr. Ko did absolute wonders for our marriage and our partnership in general. We loved how non-judgemental she was and how kind and positive she was about any problem we brought to the table. She also had incredible insight and could laser in very quickly on deeper emotional issues or parts of our negative cycle that we might have trouble identifying or working through. My husband and I are fairly emotionally intelligent people, but she helped us make connections that never occurred to us. She seriously was so insightful that when she would take a guess at what one of us was feeling, it was almost always spot on. She was never judgemental - she always knew that there was a reason behind our negative cycles/behaviors. That safe environment really made our therapy sessions a haven, where we could safely work on ourselves and our partnership with Dr. Ko as the mediator to assist us. And truly, she was born to do this - she makes it seem so effortless, like you’re just talking to a friend and it’s so easy to open up and become your best self with her as your guide. We just truly think she is the best couples therapist there is! It’s only been a few months since we stopped, but we are doing well and we use the tools, techniques, and language that Dr. Ko taught us every single day. We could not be more grateful to Dr. Ko for everything she taught us and how she gently and lovingly guided our relationship to solid ground, giving us the foundation for a healthy partnership that will last. We would recommend Dr. Ko to absolutely any couple - you will not regret it!”
“Dr. Tucker Changed My Life
After COVID, my previous employer’s partnership with Lyra Health proved to be life-changing. Many of my coworkers experienced incredible results with Lyra’s therapists, often exceeding their expectations in a remarkably short time. Seeing their success inspired me to explore my own options.
As I browsed therapist bios, I kept returning to Dr. Jeritt Tucker. Having previously worked with a male therapist, I felt drawn to Dr. Tucker—not only because of his expertise but also because he was an Iowa State University graduate from a small town in Iowa, just like me.
Dr. Tucker has an indescribable presence that made my therapy journey even more meaningful. I began sessions with “Dr. T,” as I like to call him, shortly after losing my father in March 2021. My dad was diagnosed with a terminal illness in June 2019, and due to COVID, our time together was even more limited.
Beyond my grief, I was also working to overcome childhood neglect that led to relationship struggles in my adult life. As an empath, I had spent years taking on everyone else’s problems, believing I could fix them. Dr. T helped me recognize these patterns and guided me toward healthier boundaries and self-compassion.
His insight and empathy provided the support I desperately needed during one of the most challenging periods of my life. Thanks to Lyra Health and Dr. Tucker, I’ve been able to heal, grow, and build stronger, more balanced relationships. I am forever grateful for the heartfelt impact Dr. Tucker had on my healing journey.
Thank you Dr. T!”
“Stacy is perhaps the most patient therapist I’ve ever talked to. After time with other therapists, none of them were able to get my introverted wife to talk the way Stacy could. Many would fall into the trap of putting words in her mouth, but Stacy gave her time to think, process, and speak—encouraging her to get deep into her emotions and guiding her words in a way that didn’t attack me. She was patient with me too, wisely cutting me off when I went off-track and reminding us we were there to try to heal. Stacy helped us find and address weak points in our relationship, including emotions from before we met, through our dating years, and into the present. The fights weren’t the concern so much as the emotions behind them. She helped us explore our loneliness, fears, and dissociations—and see how our individual coping methods were triggering each other. Love is worth it, and Stacy helped us understand how to heal together.”