Therapist: 4 Tips for Feeling Safe After a Break-In

1. Realize Your Emotions are Valid

Break-ins are not a common occurrence for most people, so when it does happen, it can be shocking. Homeowners may be feeling all sorts of emotions, from fear to confusion to anger. They may think that what they are feeling is not normal. But what they need to realize, according to Roberts, is that all of those mixed up feelings are valid.

“It’s definitely very normal to feel scared and be shocked and maybe even frustrated or angry,” Roberts explained.

What she tries to help clients realize is that the event was abnormal, but their reaction was normal.

“Sometimes clients think they're the ones being crazy because they're still worried that it will happen again. They're worried that things would go wrong and maybe the person who broke in will come back. They think of the worst.”

But these thoughts are far from crazy. This abnormal event just became very real, so it’s natural to worry that it could happen again. A break in can be very traumatic, even if things turned out okay in the end.

Roberts added, “It's important to be sensitive to that and acknowledge that the things that you're feeling are normal reactions.”

As people try to get back to feeling safe again, hopefully they can reach out to others and get the support they need to provide comfort. This can help lessen the threat of danger and allow them to move on from the break-in.

2. Try to Find a Sense of Closure

Everyone wants to feel safe. In fact, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs shows that beyond the basic needs for living (food, shelter, water, clothing, etc.) what people need most is safety. That includes personal security and security of property. A compromise in that need can be a huge upset in someone’s life.

Experiencing a break-in can cause people to feel a lack of safety for a time, which can affect pretty much every other area of their lives. It makes them feel like they don’t have control over their own safety.

“If a client experiences a break-in, their sense of safety has just been shattered. We associate a home with a sense of safety and security, and we can just be ourselves and not have to worry about a real sense of danger.”

If a break-in happens, be sure to call and report it to the police. Whether or not anything was stolen, it’s important for authorities to know what’s going on, especially if the person has hit more than one residence. Plus, reporting to the police can be an important step in helping a homeowner find a sense of closure and, ultimately, a sense of safety.

When authorities come to the home, hopefully they can provide assistance and assurance. The homeowner can ask questions, and police can provide vital information. This can help people feel safe, knowing that the authorities are aware and on the job. Plus, if any stolen property is eventually found and returned, the homeowner may feel another level of closure, which helps them feel that even though their safety was compromised, at least things turned out okay in the end.

Fixing any broken windows or doors, in an effort to fortify the home, can also allow the person to feel like they did something concrete to keep safety as a top priority. For some, this can offer a sense of closure that helps them feel safe again.

3. Seek Therapy with a Professional

Unfortunately, even after trying to look at the break-in with an open mind and trying to get over it, sometimes the person still doesn’t feel safe.

“Therapy might be necessary when someone is feeling like what happened is continually on their minds or they feel unsafe wherever they go,” Roberts said.

It’s when a client ruminates, or fixates, on certain thoughts that it’s time to seek therapy with a professional.

“If you're just finding yourself having a hard time processing what happened, maybe you're getting nightmares, maybe you're now very hypervigilant about everyone that comes to your house, and you wonder if your house is safe enough, maybe it would be helpful to talk to someone,” she said.

Thankfully, Roberts explained that the stigma of therapy has lessened over the years and more people are open to it whether for long-term or short-term issues. Therapy isn’t scary, she added. It’s simply two people having a conversation, except the end goal is to feel safe.

“There are lots of tools and skills that we can do to help you feel like you can do things and get through hard things.”

Talking to a therapist can help a person process what happened and how they’re feeling about it. In the case of a break in, hopefully the client will only need therapy for a short time before they can feel safe again.

4. Install a Home Security System

Coming home to a broken-in door or personal items thrown around can be unnerving. As homeowners are trying to process the event, they will probably come to the conclusion that they never want to feel like that again.

Installing a home security system can give the homeowner a sense of control and allows them to keep an eye on things whether they are home or away. They can have the peace of mind knowing that an alarm will sound if there is an intruder, and authorities will be contacted right away.

“Just having a sense of security,” Roberts said, “knowing who's coming and going out of your house, who is stopping by your house, and just feeling like you have control, which I think is what it's all about.”

Roberts and her husband purchased their home last year and wanted to get a security system to feel safe, especially knowing the statistics of burglars being less likely to hit a home that has a system. Without a security system, the only thing between the inside and the outside is a door and window and a lock.

“I talked with my husband, and we decided we should do everything we can to keep our home as secure as possible.” They purchased a Cove home security system and have had no incidents so far.

Even if a break-in were to happen with a security system, Roberts said hopefully the recovery from the event would be better.

“If you have Cove and they can get the authorities to you right away and resolve the situation, I imagine it would be difficult, but people are more likely to return back to their normal activities quicker because they know that there was someone that would take care of them.”

Everyone deserves to feel safe. That’s why, at Cove, we have built our system on the customer. With an affordable, easy-to-install system, more people can have peace of mind knowing that their home is protected. And in the case of a break-in, they will receive the assistance they need.

Cove can help protect your home and give you peace of mind. Take our quiz to get started.