Our Founders
We’re Ben and Melissa Keating. We met in 2020 and have been building our life together ever since. We share a daughter, a bunny, a love of nature and adventure, and a tendency to turn ideas into projects. We enjoy creating things together, exploring new places, and supporting each other as our lives and interests continue to evolve.
Keating Healing Rhythms grew naturally from that shared life and our individual paths. We each bring different experiences and gifts to the practice, and we collaborate on the experiences we create together. Whether you’re working one-on-one with Melissa, exploring therapeutic drumming with Ben, or joining us for a shared sound healing experience, our hope is to create a space where you can connect, explore, and find your own rhythm.
Ben's Story
Ben has been connected to music for as long as he can remember. What began with childhood music lessons and an early love of percussion grew into years of study, performance, and a deep appreciation for the way music can bring people together. Along the way, he performed with community orchestras, took on professional musical opportunities, and found himself continually drawn back to the joy of making music with others.
His path eventually led him to work with adults with special needs, first as a one-to-one behavioral specialist and later as an Artistic Enrichment Coordinator. It was there that he discovered a new dimension of his relationship with music. Coordinating performances, choir events, art experiences, and creative activities showed him firsthand how powerful music could be as a tool for connection, self-expression, confidence, and belonging. His first drum circle facilitator training opened his eyes to just how accessible music could be when the focus shifted from performing perfectly to simply participating.
That experience sparked a new vision: creating musical experiences where everyone has a place and everyone has a voice. Ben began developing a therapeutic drumming practice focused on making rhythm, creativity, and connection accessible to communities, regardless of musical experience or ability. His work continues to grow through drum circles, sound healing, community events, and private practice, while he continues his education in music therapy.
Ben brings both the lifelong passion of a musician and the perspective of someone who has seen music's impact in many different settings. At the heart of his work is a simple belief: you don't have to be a musician to make music, and you don't have to know what you're doing to experience its power. Sometimes all you need is a drum, a beat, and the freedom to find your groove.
Ben's Credentials
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Associate of Fine Arts in Music
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Music Therapy Degree Student
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Mass Cultural Council Grant for Creative Individuals, 2024
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Beat the Odds Facilitator
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Village Music Circles Facilitator
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Jim Donovan Drum Circle Leadership Training
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Life Changing Energy Sound Healer
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Artistic Enrichment Coordinator experience
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Musician & Certified Sound Healer
Melissa's Story
Melissa’s journey has woven together nearly two decades in the corporate world with a longstanding passion for mindfulness, healing, creativity, and human connection. With a background in user experience, research, design, and employee wellbeing, she has spent much of her career exploring how people experience the world around them and what helps them feel supported, connected, and empowered.
Over the past decade, that same curiosity has shaped a deeper exploration of meditation, trauma-informed practice, coaching, peer support, energy work, and holistic approaches to wellbeing. Melissa has been facilitating meditation and peer support experiences since 2016, creating spaces where people can slow down, connect, reflect, and explore what they need.
Her approach is also shaped by her own experiences with recovery, motherhood, career transition, and personal healing. Becoming a mother brought a new understanding of just how much our lives and identities can shift during periods of change. Her own journey through postpartum challenges and eventually finding meaningful support deepened her belief in the importance of being seen, heard, and supported without judgment while finding your way forward.
Melissa is a trauma-informed coach, certified meditation teacher, facilitator, and Reiki Master, with extensive training in energy medicine, mind-body practices, and perinatal behavioral health coaching. She brings together what she has learned professionally, personally, and through years of study to meet people with curiosity, compassion, and respect for their individual experience.
Through Keating Healing Rhythms, Melissa offers transformational and perinatal coaching, meditation, peer support, Reiki, and intuitive sound healing. Her approach is rooted in the belief that there is no single path to wellbeing. Sometimes meaningful change begins with a new perspective or a goal. Sometimes it begins with connection, stillness, creativity, or simply having the space to listen to yourself again.
Melissa's Credentials
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Master’s Degree in Marketing Analytics
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Trauma-Informed Transformational Coach
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Perinatal Behavioral Health Coach Certification (In Progress)
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Certified Meditation Teacher
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Reiki Master & Sound Healing Practitioner
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Peer Support Group Facilitator
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Six Years of Apprenticeship & Practicum in Energy Medicine and Shamanic Practices
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Associate’s Degree in Baking & Pastry Arts
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Nearly 20 Years of Experience in Human-Centered Strategy, Research, Design, Leadership & Employee Wellbeing