Start with the first step.
Linda Kudla, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist
Licenced in: New York & Massachusetts
Pronouns: she/her
Dr. Kudla earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in Clinical Psychology at La Salle University in Philadelphia, PA and completed her clinical internship at UMass Memorial Community Healthlink’s Youth & Family Center (CHL-YFC) in Worcester, MA. She began her professional career as a real estate paralegal for a law firm in downtown Manhattan while attending college courses at Hunter College. She completed her undergraduate studies summa cum laude at Stony Brook University, where she initially pursued her interest working with young children as a preschool assistant at Stony Brook Child Care Services. Throughout her graduate career, Dr. Kudla tailored her experiences to focus heavily on providing evaluation, assessment, and therapy services to children, adolescents, and their families in a residential, day, and crisis facility in New Castle, DE as well as within a community outpatient clinic, elementary and middle schools, and a sexual abuse outpatient facility in Philadelphia. She also assumed an adjunct professor position in La Salle’s undergraduate psychology program.
Before returning to New York City, Dr. Kudla remained on staff as a psychologist at CHL-YFC, providing outpatient therapy to children, adolescents, and adults; consultation services to preschool and day care programs across central Massachusetts; and supervising doctoral interns’ psychological assessments.
Since her return, Dr. Kudla spent a year as the Assistant Director of The Child & Family Institute-Brooklyn, where she continued to provide outpatient therapy to children, adolescents, and young adults; began teaching as an adjunct assistant professor in the Psychology Department at Brooklyn College; and has been the acting Secretary in the Brooklyn Psychological Association.
In August 2020, Dr. Kudla founded Small Steps Psychology with the intention of providing quality evidence-based therapy to individuals of all ages personally as well as through local and remote collaborations. She is also looking forward to offering training opportunities for psychology students in the future.
Our staff
Alexandra Finamore
Clinical Director
Pronouns: she/her
Alexandra graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from Stony Brook University in 2005 with a focus in psychology.
She has 8+ years of mentoring and coaching children in areas ranging from personal growth and independence through college preparation. For over ten years she worked as a senior financial analyst for a Fortune 100 Company while managing billing, payroll, and HR. Outside of her professional life, when Alexandra is not actively trying to keep her husband from turning their two young boys into New York Rangers fans, she enjoys spending time with her three dogs and baking.
Jessica Reyka, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist
Licensed in: Colorado
Pronouns: she/her
Dr. Jessica Reyka, the founder and owner of Grass Roots Healing, LLC, is currently in her seventh year of clinical practice and is now officially licensed in Colorado.
Dr. Reyka is originally from Florida, where she completed her undergraduate and graduate studies in Clinical Psychology. She went on to complete her APA-accredited internship in Massachusetts with an outpatient mental health sector of UMASS. After finishing her internship on the east coast, she moved to Denver, CO to start her own professional career. Her clinicial experience encompasses working with individuals struggling with complex trauma, attachment and relationship issues, anxiety and other mood disorders, adoption-related trauma, and rebuilding foundational skills in relaxation and stress management. She has worked in varied settings, including a group practice, outpatient crisis centers focused on treating individuals who endured sexual abuse and related trauma, and educational settings specialized for children with emotional and behavioral disorders.
Dr. Reyka views therapy as a collaborative effort that includes the therapist and client coming together to meet the client's mental health goals and needs. She views the client as the expert on their own lives, never imposing judgment or critcism, but offering guidance and support when needed. Her approach to therapy follows an integrative style, in the sene that it incorporates evidence-based practices with holistic interventions and approaches. She is a strong believer that in order for therapy to be sustainable long-term, therapy must return back to the "root" of the problem, delve into the depths of one's past, and heal those deep-seated wounds in order to create a more efficient foundation to then re-grow from. Grass Roots Healing, LLC is a place for individuals who feel like they are overwhelmed with their shadows or darkness and are striving to find their light again. Grass Roots Healing, LLC is also a safe place for LGBTQIAPK+ individuals and all ethnic and minority groups, as it continuously strives to embrace diversity within its practice and therapeutic work.
