ART Clinical Research: Evidence at the Service of Mental Health

Research and Institutional Presence

 Our clinic has an active scientific participation. We regularly present the results of our work and participate in discussions at national and international conferences. With our produced knowledge and knowledge obtained from conferences, we create a space for continuous learning. Therefore, we are firmly committed to training our professionals through internal seminars for constant updating in the field of psychotherapy and EDs.

We also support new generations of psychologists: undergraduate, master’s and PhD students carry out their internships in our center and base their thesis on the assistance and research work we carry out in the clinic. Through this tutoring, we actively foster the development of critical, methodological, and empirical thinking applied to clinical practice.

To achieve these goals, we develop our own research projects and, at the same time, we collaborate on projects with external researchers and reference universities such as the Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR) and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). Along these lines, we will soon publish new results in specialized scientific journals.

Our Current Study: Social Media and the Mind

We are currently conducting a study that aims to explore the relationship between social media use and Eating Disorders (ED), also delving into the role of factors such as mentalization, which refers to the process by which an individual interprets their own actions and those of others based on intentional mental states.

The study is led by the International University of La Rioja (UNIR) and the Clínica Proyecto Art. This project has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the International University of La Rioja.

If you suffer from an ED, to support this research, we kindly ask you to fill out the questionnaires by clicking on the button below. Your responses will be treated completely anonymously. 

The study we are currently conducting is longitudinal, meaning we may contact you again after 6 or 12 months to invite you to complete the same questionnaires, allowing us to measure your progress over time.At the same time, this is not only a quantitative study, but also a qualitative one. Therefore, we may contact you again to ask whether you would be willing to help us by participating in a qualitative interview about your use of social media during adolescence.

Participation is entirely voluntary and will not affect your clinical treatment in any way. If you have any questions or concerns, I’ll be happy to help.

Thank you.

Society has imposed the myth of the invulnerable man, who must be strong, successful, and often, have a sculpted body. This pressure generates a “muscular armor” (Hard Shell) which, far from being a symbol of health, becomes a facade to conceal deep insecurities, anxiety, and the inability to be vulnerable. Current diagnostic tools are not designed for this symptomatology, which is why EDs in men are frequently underdiagnosed or are disguised as “healthy living” or “extreme discipline.”

Beyond Bigorexia

Our project “Beyond Bigorexia”, in collaboration with universities such as UAB, UIC, and UNIR, seeks to break this stigma and invisibility. We aim to understand:

• The Identity Conflict: Confusion in the ideals of modern masculinity often pushes men to seek refuge in the obsessive control of their bodies.
• The Stigma of Emotion: How the mandate to be “tough” prevents men from seeking help, making their suffering solitary and allowing the body to become the only way to express control.
• Vulnerability and Self-Esteem: Demonstrating that true self-confidence is built through the capacity to sustain and manage vulnerability, not through a physical facade.

Research at the Service of Treatment

Investigating these issues is not an end in itself, but the engine that allows us to improve the treatments we offer at ART Clinic. By better understanding the specific dynamics of EDs in different groups, we can develop prevention and treatment programs that genuinely work for men, addressing camouflage, bigorexia, and relational masculinity.

In this regard, we have opened specific support and therapeutic groups for men, where the goal is to build an inner strength that does not depend on physical appearance.

If you have read this information and the concept of the “muscular armor” or modern masculinity resonates with you, and you wish to participate in our qualitative interviews to share your experience and help us transform the narrative, please indicate it to your therapist or contact us to be included in the selection process.

Presentation and Publicactions:

Misiolek, A., Aufenacker, S. I., Camacho, L., Zurutuza, A., Valls Ferre, S., & Testa, G. (2026, June). Young adults’ retrospective perspectives on their eating disorder trajectories: A consensual qualitative study on the role of social media, protective, preventive and aggravating factors [Brief paper presentation]. Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR) 57th International Annual Meeting, Osaka, Japan.

Sánchez Rúbies, M., Royuela, E., Aufenacker, S. I., & Misiolek, A. (2026, June). Being a man and a high-performance athlete: A double camouflage in the detection of eating disorders [Poster presentation]. Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR) 57th International Annual Meeting, Osaka, Japan.

Misiolek, A., Camacho, L., Aufenacker, S. I., & Testa, G. (2025, June). The role of social media in the development, maintenance and prevention of chronic or long-term eating disorders (ED) [Brief Paper presentation]. Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR) 56th International Annual Meeting, Krakow, Poland.