For the Families
Behind the Children
You Already Serve
“To make sure no parent has to find their way back to themselves alone.”
Founded by a mother
who lived it.
In the Absence of Lullabies was founded by Moira Keating — a Rhode Island mother, a Columbia University certified narrative medicine practitioner, and a PhD who spent two decades navigating the medical complexities of raising a child with a rare genetic condition. She created In the Absence of Lullabies because she lived what your families live. And because no parent should have to find their way back to themselves alone.
“The system sees the child. But it rarely sees the parent. In the Absence of Lullabies was built to change that.”
— Moira Keating, PhD · Founder
The families behind
the children.
Parents and caregivers of children with disabilities and medical complexities. The families behind the children your organization serves every day. The ones holding everything together while quietly falling apart.
This is for them.
A space they have
never had before.
Research-backed, humanities-grounded, and built for the reality of their lives.
- A dedicated space to process the emotional weight of caregiving
- A compassionate community that reduces isolation and builds connection
- A renewed sense of identity beyond being a caregiver
- A practice rooted in peer-reviewed research on caregiver resilience
- The knowledge that they are seen, supported, and not alone
“To make sure no parent has to find their way back to themselves alone.”
You will be doing something
most organizations haven’t.
When you bring In the Absence of Lullabies to your community, you are looking at the whole family — not just the child. That matters. Here is what it gives you:
A meaningful, research-backed program demonstrating your commitment to the whole family
A resource that fills a gap no clinical service currently fills
Stronger family engagement and retention within your organization
A differentiator that sets you apart from other organizations serving this population
A comprehensive evaluation report ready to share with your board, funders, and leadership
The ability to say to every family you serve — we see you too
One hour. Three elements.
No experience required.
Each session is one hour on Zoom. Based on the Columbia University model of narrative medicine.
Close Reading
We read a short piece of literature together — a poem, a story, a passage. We notice the language, the images, what moves us.
Reflective Writing
A prompt connected to the reading. Participants write silently for fifteen minutes. No experience needed. No judgment.
Sharing Circle
Volunteers read their writing aloud. The group responds with what they heard — not advice. A space to be witnessed and heard.
Rooted in evidence.
Grounded in humanity.
In the Absence of Lullabies is rooted in the Columbia University model of narrative medicine. Research confirms that narrative-based writing significantly reduces depression, anxiety, and isolation in caregivers — and builds resilience and connection. This is not therapy. It is a humanities-based practice that gives parents a space to find their voice, rediscover themselves, and realize they are not alone.
“Until the writing, there are two isolated beings — both of whom suffer, and both of whom suffer alone. By virtue of the writing, there is hope for connection, for recognition, for communion.”
Dr. Rita Charon · Founder of Narrative Medicine, Columbia University
“Approximately one in three family caregivers experience clinically significant depression, and nearly half report significant burden.”
ScienceDirect · Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses, 2025
She did not build this
in a classroom.
On March 15, 2006, Moira Keating’s second son Declan was born into the NICU. In the years that followed — through diagnosis, through countless doctors’ offices, through the slow disappearance of the life she had known — she discovered what so many parents of medically complex children discover quietly and alone. That the system sees the child. But it rarely sees the parent.
In search of connection, she turned to writing. And writing gave her back her voice. Years later, that instinct led her to Columbia University’s School of Narrative Medicine, where she earned her certification and found the framework that would become In the Absence of Lullabies.
As a professor, a mother of three, and a published author, Moira brings both academic rigor and lived experience to every workshop she facilitates. She built this program in the years of living it alongside Declan.
“No parent should have to find their way back to themselves alone.”
Columbia University — Narrative Medicine
Professor & Author
Mother of Three
Providence, Rhode Island
I would be honored
to connect.
Let’s explore what this might mean for the families you serve.