Growing up, Sarahjane Bradford was told she was better off dead. In our video series, Thanks, the domestic violence survivor gives a surprise thank you to the people who helped her find her worth.

"This is where I flipped my car," says Sarahjane, from the passenger seat.

We're driving along a dirt road deep in the Brindabellas outside Canberra. I'm at the wheel, slowing down to avoid grooves along the slippery gravel.

"I had a bit of a giggle to myself. It was a bit of fun," she recalls, of the moment her car began to veer. "I tried to straighten up, overcorrected and rolled a couple of times."

Sarahjane Bradford overcame experiences of domestic violence as a child and as an adult. ( Jason Om )

Concussed, she pulled herself out of the car before flagging down a passing motorist.

"I'm not sure if I parked it straight," she told them dryly.

Sarahjane tells this story from her 20s in a casual yet arresting way. To her, the accident was just another bump in her life.

We continue to drive, passing pink galahs, sheep and a paddock of horses wearing their winter coats.

It's a journey 32-year-old Sarahjane has made many times, particularly when she's needed to deal with life's struggles. A difficult childhood in foster care. Domestic violence. Abuse and negative self-talk.

At the end of the road is a house in the hills with a warm fire and a lunch of cold cuts, tea and cake. A refuge, and home to Gary and Ruth Jones.

In our video series, Thanks, Sarahjane Bradford gives thanks to those who helped her feel lovable. ( Jason Om )

When Sarahjane was a girl, a cruel thought crawled into her head, one repeated so many times by people around her that she came to believe it.

"I was made to feel that I was worthless. That I was going to be nothing," she says.

"I spent a lot of my life feeling rejected and feeling unlovable."

When you don't have love, she says, you try to find it anywhere.

For her, it was pursuing relationships that weren't good for her. She was hooked on internet dating and travelled far for affection. Any words of "love" got her by.

"It became a norm for me that it didn't matter if I was hurt or if I was physically assaulted or verbally assaulted, as long as I was shown a little bit of love," she says.

"I craved it so much I didn't care where it came from."

'I have my life because of them'

Today, Sarahjane is a nurse, health educator and an advocate for the national domestic violence campaign, White Ribbon Australia.

Through her work, she occasionally treats people close to the end of their lives in palliative care.

"I love that we have time to sit with them and share life with them. It's about how we show our care and respect for patients."

Gary and Ruth Jones are proud to have Sarahjane in their lives. ( Jason Om )

Perhaps it's a natural fit for Sarahjane. She can empathise with people who are facing death.

"I got to [such] a low point in my life that I shouldn't be here today," she says of the time, seven years ago, she tried to take her own life.

"I remember doctors saying, 'We'll put her in ICU and see if she pulls through, we don't think she's going to make it'. Hearing that, I knew that I wanted to live."

Gary and Ruth Jones have known Sarahjane since she was nine years old, when she first attended a youth camp they ran while on her school holidays. After leaving foster care aged 18, she went to live with them for a while.

"Gary and Ruth have been there from the get-go," Sarahjane says.

She sees them as the father and mother she never really had. They taught her how to cook, clean and take care of herself. They encouraged her to go to university.

"I have my life because of them," she says.

"I'm here today because I've learnt I'm lovable and I have something to give."

Sarahjane Bradford says Gary and Ruth were like a father and mother to her. ( Jason Om )

While recovering in hospital after her attempt to take her own life, Ruth was the one who held her hand and whispered, "No matter what, we love you."

"She's had to bounce back from pretty low deep pits," Ruth says.

"She's hung in with us and we've hung in with her."

"You deal with problems as they come," Gary says.

"That's what she's done," Ruth says.

"She's flourished and we've been delighted to be part of her life."

It's only now Sarahjane has been able to thank them in a very public way.

"I'm really glad I did it. To be able to tell them in person and in my own words was really cool. I probably wouldn't have done it if I didn't have the opportunity."

Expressions of gratitude have a 'rippling out effect'

Gratitude. There's probably not enough of it in the world. The deep genuine type that goes beyond Instagram to real human connection.

According to Lisa Williams, senior lecturer in psychology at UNSW, it's an expression that multiplies.

"We see this rippling out effect, both with the feeling of gratitude and the expression of gratitude," she says.

She says someone who receives gratitude is more likely to reciprocate it and more likely to act to the benefit of others, including to strangers. Even witnessing an act of gratitude can have a positive effect.

The depth of gratitude also makes a significant difference. It must be meaningful.

"Sincerity is really important. A flippant 'thank you' your mum makes you say may not do much to benefit social relationships," Dr Williams says.

"The degree to which something is sincere and tied to a particular relationship, the more benefit it has. That carries for both feelings of gratitude and expressions of gratitude."

When I wrote about my relationship with my dad, the huge public response was surprising and unexpected. Spontaneous messages of gratitude poured in.

I redirected those messages to my dad in an act of positive reinforcement. From that, even more public gratitude came back to me.

So it's with this feeling, the series, Thanks, was born.

In Sarahjane's video, you'll see a two-way effect, which I like to call the gratitude feedback loop.

"The more we recognise the value of positive emotions in benefitting relationships, the better off we'll be as a society," Dr Williams says.

And surely, we need more of it.