I am a lawyer and social worker employed at The Groundworks Lab as a Family and Social Assesment Specialist, Family Report Writer, Child Consultant and Single Expert Witness. I have over 8 years of experience in mental health and legal areas. I hold a dual Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Psychology) and Law (Honours), a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, and a Master of Social Work. After working as a family lawyer post-graduation, I decided to specialise in assessments and reporting for post-separation families in the Family Court system. Defined by my compassion for vulnerable families dealing in family law and post-separation, I have a zealous commitment to understand and help address complex family and children’s needs in an empathetic and robust manner.

Brisbane Counselling | Fertility & Donor-Conception Counselling | Grief & Loss Therapy Vanessa Diana is a Brisbane-based counsellor and accredited social worker (AASW) with over twenty years of experience across counselling, child protection, and trauma-informed practice. She provides professional and compassionate therapy supporting individuals, couples, and families across Brisbane and surrounding areas. Vanessa has worked across government and non-government settings, including roles as a Fertility and Donor-Conception Counsellor with Queensland Fertility Group, Social Worker at Mater Family and Youth Counselling Service, and Senior Advisor with the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women. Her clinical work includes supporting people navigating fertility treatment, donor conception, perinatal loss, grief and loss, domestic and family violence, harmful sexual behaviours, and child protection concerns. Her therapeutic approach is relational, attachment-informed, and trauma-responsive. Vanessa has particular expertise in family therapy, parent–child relationship work, Circle of Security Parenting, and reflective clinical practice. She also has experience preparing forensic reports for the Family Court, bringing a careful, ethical, and systems-informed perspective to complex and high-stakes contexts. Vanessa provides specialised grief and loss counselling across the lifespan, supporting both death-related grief—including miscarriage, stillbirth, perinatal loss, and sudden bereavement—and non-death-related losses such as relationship breakdown, chronic illness, infertility, and identity-related transitions. Her work in fertility counselling and donor-conception counselling is informed by a strong understanding of the emotional, relational, and ethical dimensions of assisted reproduction, including issues of disclosure, identity, and family formation. Vanessa is committed to delivering accessible counselling services via telehealth that are evidence-informed, ethically grounded, and emotionally attuned, supporting clients through complex and sensitive transitions with professionalism, care, and warmth.