Grace Elizabeth Tworek PsyD

Grace Tworek, PsyD is a Clinical Health Psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis. She received her BA from Catawba College and both her MS and PsyD from Nova Southeastern University. She completed her internship at Broward Health Medical Center and went on to complete her fellowship year at Cleveland Clinic within the Mellen Center. During her fellowship year she became increasingly interested in how the experience of stigma may impact mental health and quality of life for those living with MS. She conducted research in this area and published a manuscript, with hopes of applying this information clinically to improve the lives of patients seen at the Mellen Center. She was also awarded the Psychology award at the 2022 Neurological Institute Forum for Trainee Research Day upon presenting this research.

As Dr. Tworek made her transition to staff, she worked closely with neurology providers to identify the needs of patients served and methods to expand interdisciplinary care in multiple sclerosis and autoimmune encephalitis treatment. As a result, she has worked to develop a service that expands behavioral medicine services to include a hospital consultation service dedicated to patients seen within the Mellen Center. She has been successful in creating a branch of behavioral medicine care from the inpatient setting to outpatient services, including both individual and group therapy services. Her current clinical and research interests focus on interventions to improve quality of life and the impact of stressors on overall functioning and well-being. She has been a guest on podcasts and video series through Sirius XM Mental Health Radio, RealTalk MS, BioNews, and the International Autoimmune Encephalitis Society where she was asked to discuss the impacts of stress, emotion regulation, sources of support, and development of effective coping skills.

Dr. Tworek, fondly known as Dr. T to her students, helps train post-doctoral psychology students in behavioral factors impacting the disease process. She believes strongly in the mind-body connection and teaches how health behaviors can impact physiological responses within the body.

Before becoming a psychologist, she was a collegiate swimmer and now enjoys swimming, biking, and hiking with her husband Alex in her spare time. She is also an active member of the Junior League of Akron, where she engages in social activism-focused projects that directly benefit the local community, such as addressing hunger and period poverty.