Famous serial killer profiler says women should do the following to stay safe

Dr. Ann Burgess, the subject of Hulu’s new documentary series “Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer,” talks about what she’s learned about serial killers – and how to protect yourself from them

Dr. Ann Burgess has had close contact with numerous well-known serial killers throughout her career.

The nurse and current professor is one of the world’s best-known serial killer profilers and is now the subject of Hulu’s three-part documentary series Mastermind: Think like a killer. (The series premieres July 11 and is executive produced by Elle and Dakota Fanning.)

Burgess’ career began when she worked with victims of sexual violence in the 1970s and the FBI became aware of her ability to get rape victims to open up and remember details. They then asked her to consult with the Behavioral Science Unit, where they developed the first psychological profiling for serial killers. (The character of Dr. Wendy Carr in the series Thought Hunter was modeled after Dr. Burgess.)

Related: 2 women who survived the same serial killer speak out: ‘I didn’t pray to live, I prayed to die’

Burgess’ work has led to numerous arrests, and she continues to advise on high-profile cases, including those of the Menendez brothers and Bill Cosby.

Through her decades of research, she came to the following conclusions about serial killers: Their mental transformation into sociopaths usually occurs during puberty and they often have an unnatural fascination with the human body.

“A lot of these acting outs start right in puberty, right in adolescence – at 12, 13, 14,” Burgess tells PEOPLE. “So we know there’s a real shift in the biological neurological system, if you will. And it could be that certain parts of the brain are overstimulated due to trauma, the neurobiology of trauma.”

All the serial killers she studied exhibited similar mental patterns, she says.

“There are certainly things that they all have in common. It starts early and it starts as a thought. It develops into what is now called a fantasy, and they spend a lot of time thinking about it, daydreaming about it, going through it, and then they start to get as much out of planning it as they do actually doing it. It develops from just a thought to, ‘Maybe I should try that.’ And they do research – a lot.”

Burgess says many of the serial killers she studied or spoke to practiced on animals before killing people.

“Then they practiced. A lot of them practiced with animals. I remember Jeffrey Dahmer saying he did it with roadkill. We noticed that they were very curious… they wanted to know what was inside the body. I mean, it sounds really unusual, but a lot of them talked about wanting to find out what the body looked like.”

Related: Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: How the serial killer was caught

The show’s director, Abby Fuller, points out that during her interviews with Burgess and her own research, she noticed that many serial killers also had absent fathers and abusive mothers.

“There’s this misogyny that develops, or this acting out against women because of these mother complexes, more or less,” says Fuller. “Often they’ve been victims, so there’s this idea that the victim becomes the perpetrator and the scene plays out like that, only this time they’re in control and not the victim. And that’s not the case in every case, but for many, that was a pattern.”

Dr. Burgess says if it were easier for children to talk about emotional or sexual abuse, it could help stop some of the behavior before it even starts.

“Certainly there is this emotional and psychological abuse. We don’t talk about it much and it’s hard for people to open up about things that really embarrass children or exclude them from others, especially young men. So I think we need to do a lot more in this area,” she says.

She believes part of the public’s fascination with the true crime genre stems from the need for women to know what to look for in order to stay safe.

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“Absolutely,” she says. “In some other disciplines, that’s actually the case. Pilots talk about their near misses and they really do it with the intention of: ‘What would I do if I were in that situation?'”

She gives tips on safety and recommends always trusting your gut feeling if something doesn’t occur to you.

Related: 2 young women camping in Shenandoah National Park were murdered in 1996. Now the FBI knows who killed them

“That’s your limbic system responding,” she says. “It’s an involuntary system that’s activated in us to alert us, and you should pay attention to it. I just think it’s only common sense to listen to it and not override the system.”

She says she knows too many cases where women have felt something was wrong and then thought, “Oh my goodness, I’m exaggerating.” And then they found themselves in a very difficult situation.

Your other advice?

“Get a German Shepherd. That’s the only thing I ever say – a German Shepherd.”

She also mentions that she puts huge work boots in front of her house when she is alone to make it appear that her husband is there, as this might deter any potential intruders.

“Many killers take advantage of their opportunity,” she says. “So if they see a sign saying ‘Beware of the Dog’ and think there’s a man sitting there who could potentially fight them, they’ll move on to the next house to find an easier victim.”

“Master Mind: To Think Like a Killer” premieres on Hulu on July 11.

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