Ep. 170 - Supporting Families from the Very Beginning — A Conversation with Nitzia Logothetis, Founder of the Seleni Institute

In this episode, we speak with the founder of the Seleni Institute, Nitzia Logothetis, a New York City nonprofit devoted to maternal and family mental health, about the invisible emotional toll of infertility and the gaps in women's mental health care.

Founded in 2011, Seleni grew from the conviction that supporting children begins with supporting parents, and from Nitzia's own experience discovering she had no guaranteed parental leave while pregnant and working in a community mental health clinic. Today, Seleni runs a clinic serving up to 120 patients weekly, an online resource hub reaching 30,000 readers monthly, and national clinician trainings on perinatal mental health, grief, infertility, Black maternal mental health, and soon, perimenopause.

The conversation centers on infertility as "disenfranchised grief" — a compounding series of invisible losses that strain relationships and challenge identity, with secondary infertility carrying its own quiet devastation. Nitzia closes with advice for those beginning the journey.

Learn more, request appointments, or explore clinician trainings (including 100 annual scholarships) at seleni.org.