Founded in Fall 2024, the central focus of the DeStiNY lab is human nature, its development, and diagnosis, assessment, and intervention practices in psychotherapy. We understand all of these constructs through the lens of dynamic complex systems neural functions and the emergent neuropsychology that results; this provides a means to relate the human experience with all the natural systems in which it plays out.
While we work on a wide range of topics, a key advantage of the deep structural framework is that it enables us to integrate, augment, and unify across our different areas of interest. We are based in the Counseling and Human Development Department at the University of Rochester.
Lab NEWS
Lab Members
REPRESENTATIVE Lab publications (2025-present)
Boxell, O. (2025). Neuropsychological Deep Structure: The Electromagnetic Emergence of Human Nature, Psychopathology, and the Scope of Clinical Mental Health Intervention. Proquest Global.
Boxell, O. (2025). Deep Structure Psychotherapy. In B. Owens & K. Campbell (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Mental Health Modalities, Trainings, Certifications, and Credentials. Tucson, AZ: ONBLLC Publications.
Marquis, A. & Boxell, O. (2025, in press). An integral analysis of the etiology and treatment of substance use disorders. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration.
Roth, A., de la Fuente, E. R. M., & Boxell, O. (2025). Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs): Neurobehavioral, families-moving-forward program, and other interventions. In B. Owens & K. Campbell (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Mental Health Modalities, Trainings, Certifications, and Credentials. Tucson, AZ: ONBLLC Publications.
REPRESENTATIVE Lab pRESENTATIONS
2025
Boxell, O. (2025, May 1-3). On making the ontological leap from brain to mind: Neuropsychological deep structure theory. Society for Philosophy and Neuroscience (SPAN) Conference, St. Louis, MO.
Sullivan, A., Kannan, R., de la Fuente, E. R. M., Bohman, R., Realbuto, E., Wang, K., Huang, Y., Esperance, T., Weiss, A., & Boxell, O. (2025, April 5). The Dodo-Bird of Minerva still flies at dusk (but not during the day): A transtheoretical meta-analysis of psychotherapy interventions [Poster]. Warner Research Days: Student Research Showcase, Rochester, NY.
Boxell, O. (2025, April 4). The effectiveness of deep structural priming as an augmentation for traditional psychotherapy [Poster]. Warner Research Days: Faculty Research Symposium, Rochester, NY.
RECENT EARLIER EXAMPLES (2020-4)
Boxell, O. (2024, April 19). Deep Structure Psychotherapy (DSP): Using neuropsychology to integrate and augment counseling approaches [Poster]. University of Rochester Breaking Down Silos Symposium, Rochester, NY.
Boxell, O. (2024, February 2). Neuropsychological deep structure and its clinical applications in counseling [Invited Talk]. Greater Rochester Licensed Mental Health Counselors’ Google Group Meeting. Rochester, NY.
Boxell, O. (2021, October 5-10). How the mind emerges from the brain and what this means for counselors and counselor educators [Poster]. Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference, Atlanta, GA.
Boxell, O. (2021, September 10-11). Direct brain stimulation as an intervention for treatment resistant mental health disorders: A meta-analysis of clinical efficacy and prospects for integration with counseling [Poster]. 2021 Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling Conference, Cincinnati, OH.
Boxell, O., Lane, J., & Sörensen, S. (2020, May 21-24). Visuospatial and narrative memory predict verbal learning capacity in older adults: The effects of executive function and mental health [Poster]. 32nd Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Chicago, IL.
Boxell, O. (2020, April 16-19). STEM students’ basic psychological needs [Poster]. American Counseling Association 2020 Conference and Expo, San Diego, CA.
Boxell, O. (2020, April 16-19). Contextual effects on mental health stigma [Poster]. American Counseling Association 2020 Conference and Expo, San Diego, CA.