This article will guide you on how to create an Ex-Cult Member survey about Rebuilding Trust. Using Specific, you can generate such a survey in seconds—just build your survey and start gathering insights with ease.
Steps to create a survey for ex-cult members about rebuilding trust
If you want to save time, just generate a survey with Specific—you'll have a tailored, expert-level survey live in seconds. Here are the only steps you need:
Tell what survey you want.
Done.
You honestly don’t even need to read further. The AI instantly uses expert knowledge to create your survey, and it will follow up with respondents to collect the deeper insights you care about. That’s the magic of semantic surveys—Specific thinks of the details so you can focus on results. Explore the AI survey generator if you want to build something from scratch.
Why ex-cult member surveys about rebuilding trust matter
Let’s be blunt: if you’re not running these surveys, you’re missing out on hard, actionable data about obstacles ex-cult members face in healing and reconnecting. The importance of ex-cult member recognition surveys can’t be underestimated—especially when you look at the reality behind leaving high-control groups.
Approximately 60% of former cult members report difficulty reintegrating into society, highlighting how critical emotional and social support is after leaving[1].
Trust doesn’t magically return. Nearly 40% of survivors report difficulty trusting others after religious abuse, making it harder to form new relationships or rebuild family ties[2].
Those numbers speak volumes. If you’re not collecting feedback directly from ex-cult members, you’re relying on guesswork. You’re missing their lived experience, their real obstacles, and the support they actually need. Feedback from these surveys can:
Spot shared struggles that individuals might think are unique to them
Inform support group leaders, therapists, and advocacy organizations on what help is really needed
Track the progress of trust recovery over time, so no one operates in the dark
The bottom line: the benefits of ex-cult member feedback aren’t limited to organizations. They help rebuild lives—one insight at a time.
What makes a good survey on rebuilding trust
Crafting a survey about rebuilding trust isn’t about loading a form with cold, impersonal questions. You need clear, unbiased questions that make sense to someone recovering from cult-related trauma. When you design with empathy and use a conversational tone, respondents feel safe enough to be honest—and that’s exactly when you get the gold.
Here’s a quick comparison to drive the point home:
Bad practices | Good practices |
|---|---|
Loaded or leading questions | Unbiased, open-ended prompts |
Jargon-heavy phrasing | Clear, everyday language |
No space for “why” | Followups encouraged |
One-size-fits-all format | Conversational adaptability |
Ultimately, you want both quantity and quality of responses. If your questions confuse, intimidate, or bore people, you’ll get low engagement or shallow answers. But when surveys are designed right—using expert templates or AI—you tap into authentic experiences and create value for everyone involved.
What are question types with examples for ex-cult member survey about rebuilding trust
Let’s talk structure. You don’t want every question to look or feel the same—but you also don’t want to confuse respondents with overly complex formats. Here’s how to mix it up, keep things engaging, and maximize insight. If you want a deep-dive, explore the best survey questions for ex-cult member feedback—that’s where we break down more strategies and specific examples.
Open-ended questions give respondents room for full context and personal nuance. They work best early on, or when you want detail about "why" or "how". For example:
What has been your biggest challenge in rebuilding trust since leaving your group?
Describe a moment when you felt your trust was starting to return—what contributed to that change?
Single-select multiple-choice questions quickly clarify frequency or prevalence—perfect for benchmarking, or spotting trends at a glance. You might say:
Since leaving your group, how often have you felt comfortable sharing personal information with others?
Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Often
NPS (Net Promoter Score) question is uniquely actionable: it measures trust restoration with a familiar 0-10 scale, easy to benchmark and track over time. If you're focused on measuring progress, generate an NPS survey for ex-cult member feedback in seconds. Example:
How likely are you to recommend joining a support group to another ex-cult member struggling to rebuild trust?
Followup questions to uncover "the why"—these are the secret weapon. Use them whenever an initial answer could mean many things, or when you need to dig past the surface. For example:
You mention struggling with trust—can you share what situations make this feeling worse?
What would help you feel safer opening up in new relationships?
For more tips (including how to customize followups with AI), read our guide to building effective ex-cult member surveys about rebuilding trust.
What is a conversational survey?
Conversational surveys feel like a real dialogue, not an interrogation. Instead of clicking through static forms, respondents engage with a natural back-and-forth—like chatting with a curious, respectful interviewer who adapts to their answers in real time. The experience makes respondents feel heard and valued, not analyzed.
Compare that to a traditional survey:
Manual Surveys | AI-generated Surveys |
|---|---|
Static questions, no adaptation | Dynamic, context-aware followups |
Time-consuming to build | Launched in seconds |
One-size-fits-all | Personalized to each respondent |
Response fatigue | Higher engagement rates |
Why use AI for ex-cult member surveys? The big advantage: AI knows what to ask next, how to word followups with empathy, and when to stop probing so people aren’t overwhelmed. An AI survey example produced in Specific uses conversational logic, built-in expertise, and a frictionless mobile experience to deliver results that manual methods just can’t match.
Specific’s conversational surveys deliver best-in-class user experience, keeping participation rates high and making feedback collection smooth for everyone. If you’re curious, dive deeper into how to analyze ex-cult member survey responses—we show how AI unlocks patterns in real conversations.
The power of follow-up questions
Automated follow-up questions aren’t just a new feature—they’re a game changer. If you’re not using them, you’re almost guaranteed to get vague, contextless answers. The power of intelligent, real-time probing can’t be overstated. For more on the mechanics, check out automatic AI follow-up questions.
Ex-Cult Member: “I have trouble trusting new people.”
AI follow-up: “Can you share what specifically makes it hard to trust someone new?”
No followup? You’re left with a cryptic answer and no actionable detail. With followup? You get clarity, context, and deeper understanding—exactly what helps people heal and thrive.
How many followups to ask? Experience shows 2–3 well-crafted followups are usually enough; anything more can feel intrusive. It’s smart to offer an option for respondents to skip to the next question when they’ve shared enough. Specific lets you set this up just right.
This makes it a conversational survey: everything stays natural and adaptive, instead of rigid and pre-scripted. That’s the difference between a forgotten form and a feedback tool people trust.
AI survey analysis, thematic insights, GPT-based review: Even with open answers, it’s dead-simple to analyze everything automatically with AI. Want to see how? Read our walkthrough on analyzing open-ended survey responses from ex-cult members.
The best way to appreciate this? Try generating a survey and see how smart, contextual followup transforms your results.
See this rebuilding trust survey example now
Create your own survey about rebuilding trust for ex-cult members and unlock deeper, actionable insights in minutes—personalized, conversational, and powered by expert-backed AI.