The Gottman Institute & Kimochis Partner to Create The Kimochis Activity Kit for Military Families

Feb. 21, 2012 - PRLog -- February 21, 2012. Seattle, WA - The Gottman Institute and Kimochis® have partnered to create The Kimochis® Activity Kit for Military Families in an effort to help military families stay connected throughout all phases of the deployment cycle. An estimated 30,000 military service members are expected to return home and reunite with their families in 2012. While this feels like good news, the latest statistics show that many military families are significantly impacted even after their service member arrives home. Veteran suicides are outpacing war casualties and divorce rates for military families continue to increase. And the impact of military deployment goes beyond the service member and spouse. According to a RAND study of 1500 military kids ages 11 -17, compared to civilian kids of the same age, children of military families have significantly more emotional and behavioral problems than their non-military peers.

Kimochis® and The Gottman Institute created the Kimochis® Activity Kit for Military Families to give Military Families a playful tool to build positive communication skills that create strong family bonds, increased resiliency, and raise the odds of successful reintegration.

The Kimochis® Activity Kit for Military Families includes a new Kimochis® character—a dog named Hero; a 32-page hardcover picture book Hero’s Big Adventure; two sets of Kimochis® feelings; a Kimochis® nesting heart; and an Activity Book filled with engaging ways to connect and communicate. The Kimochis® Activity Kit for Military Families is currently in production and The Gottman Institute is taking pre-orders now. The kit will be available for worldwide distribution in September 2012. A percentage of all proceeds will go to support Tamar Geller’s organization Operation Heroes and Hounds. In addition to supporting the heroes that Tamar works with, anyone can purchase the Kimochis® Activity Kit for Military Families as a donation to the National Military Family Association’s Operation Purple Program which serves 45,000 military children, teens and their families.

“Surprisingly, a lot of the soldiers’ stress comes not from being shot at or from jumping out of airplanes, but from their relationships with their spouses and children. We have been honored to work with military couples on past projects and are excited to be able to provide a platform for the Kimochis® Activity Kit for Military Families to support military families as they continue to be deployed and as family reintegration occurs on a large scale,” said John M. Gottman, PhD, co-founder of The Gottman Institute.

“It is our mission to help as many children and families as possible to stay connected, to feel understood and loved. Kimochis® help kids give voice to their thoughts and feelings. This kit will help military families give voice to their experience throughout the deployment cycle and beyond,” said Nina Rappaport Rowan, CEO of Plushy Feely Inc.

The Gottman Institute was co-founded by Drs. John and Julie Schwartz Gottman. The Gottman Institute understands that the human family is in crisis and that all individuals are capable of and deserve compassion. It is our mission to reach out to families in order to help create and maintain greater love and health in relationships. We are committed to an ongoing program of research that increases the understanding of relationships and adds to the development of interventions that have been carefully evaluated. www.gottman.com

Kimochis® are created by Plushy Feely Corp., San Rafael, CA. Plushy Feely Corp. is focused on strengthening parent-child connections and building self-esteem, confidence, and emotional intelligence in children. www.kimochis.com

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The Gottman Institute provides practical, research-based skills to strengthen and repair marriages & relationships.We offer Weekend Workshops for couples, Professional Training, books, DVDs, and other products on Parenting and Relationships.