Psychologist Kim Cullen understands exactly why mums around Australia have been so invested in Cleo’s disappearance over the past few weeks.

“Because it involved a vulnerable child. We feel a connected to a victim when there are similarities. We as mums have a lot of empathy, and we imagine what it would be like if it was our child,” she told 9Honey Parenting.

Cullen, who is a mum herself, has been following the search for Cleo closely and was hoping for a positive outcome.

“The loss of a child or someone taking your child – there is really just nothing worse,” she said.

“If you feel inclined to be more attentive to your child this morning, it’s certainly understandable”.

This morning I did just that. I gave my little boy – the one that kept me up all night – the biggest, longest hug I could. I told him he could call out for me at any time during the night, and I will be there.

I reminded myself how lucky I was to have him with me at home, safe and well.

Take the time to do this with your own kids today mums. I can only imagine Ellie is doing the same right now with her little Cleo.

Protests about mandatory vaccination for the construction sector in Melbourne this week got violent pretty quickly. The crowd wasn’t as large as other protests have been, so what made these turn from protest to riot so quickly? Kim Cullen is a psychologist and says it comes down to perceived injustice – in this case not being allowed to work and having the vaccine mandated – as well as being a rudderless crowd. Kim says the protestors didn’t appear to have a leader, and so there was no leader to communicate with and diffuse the situation through. With mounting testosterone in the crowd and an “us” and “them” mentality towards police, the risk of the protest getting violent increased. If protestors perceive an injustice, they need to nominate a leader if they want to achieve a meaningful outcome, Kim says.

Working in organisational psychology, I see a lot of clients who believe they manage their stress well, but in actual fact they’re containing it, not managing it. Stress is accumulative and should be reduced or released as it occurs, not put aside for another time. If you have daily stresses, then logically you need to take daily action to reduce it. My personal stress toolkit includes 3 self-care/relaxing activities that take 15mins, 3 that take 30mins and 3 that take 60mins, which you can use across your day, week and month. You might be surprised by the types of techniques I recommend – looking at the photos on your phone for 15 minutes with a cuppa is my main quick stress relief, it works every time. So, what stress relief exercises suit you best?

As a working single mother of two daughters, I’ve grappled with working to provide for my kids and wanting to be present for them. We need our girls to learn these five things if we want them to have an easier run at managing life as working mothers. 1. Decide what you want your work life to look like, then set measurable goals and tangible tasks in support of that. 2. Monitor your journey as it evolves and celebrate your wins – even if it’s just getting through a rough week. 3. Understand that historically more men than women have led the workforce, so research on ‘best practice’ for success may not be the same for everyone. 4. Believe in equality, but don’t get caught up in ‘which gender does what better’. 5. Know your strengths, build on them and use them to contribute to something that’s meaningful to you.