Some people enter the behavioral health field because they chose a career. Taralynn Rosenthal entered it because she lived it. Beginning her own recovery journey in 2013, she turned lived experience into a professional mission, one that has now earned her a place among Portland Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 honorees for 2025.
As the founder and managing director of Sisu Healing Partners, Taralynn has built something rare: a family-centered recovery agency rooted equally in clinical excellence and deep personal conviction.
From Family-Centered Care to Regional Recognition — A Look at the Vision Behind Sisu Healing Partners
Sisu Healing Partners was founded in 2020 in Portland, Oregon, grounded in the Finnish concept of sisu, the courage, resilience, and determination to transform obstacles into opportunities. The name carries deep personal meaning: the organization was founded in honor of a close mentor who died by suicide in 2015, grounding its mission in compassion, perseverance, and purpose that goes far beyond professional obligation.
In just five years, Sisu Healing Partners has supported more than 500 clients and their families on the path to recovery. The organization has maintained consistent growth, reflecting both increasing demand due to community mental health struggles and quality services being provided by the agency. The clinical approach at the heart of Sisu Healing Partners is a family-centered, non-confrontational methodology with documented outcomes.
Taralynn has also emerged as a national spokesperson for ethical intervention practices. She has been advocating for higher standards of care and accountability in a field that directly impacts some of the most vulnerable individuals and families. In 2025, she became the youngest speaker at the AIS Annual Conference and currently serves as Secretary and Board Member of the Association of Intervention Specialists, the national governing body that sets ethical standards for the profession. She is also Oregon’s only AIS-member interventionist. This distinction that reflects an extraordinary commitment to ethics, education, and professional accountability.
Her academic and clinical credentials are equally impressive:
- Bachelor of Science in Human Development — Arizona State University
- Master of Social Work — Arizona State University
- Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW)
- Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor III (CADC III) — a master’s-level certification representing one of the highest levels of addiction counseling recognition in Oregon
- Qualified Mental Health Professional (QMHP)
- Certified Intervention Professional (CIP)
- Certified ARISE Interventionist (CAI)
- Certified Trauma Therapist (CTT) (in training) — Spirit to Spirit Training Program
Taralynn’s community investment extends well beyond her clinical work. She has volunteered with the Women’s Recovery Comedy Show, advocated for Oregon’s Measure 110 as a master-level social worker during the 2020 election, supported disability-centered organizations, including Adaptive Sports Northwest and the ALS Association, and served on the boards of Come Rest Awhile, Upstream Access, and the Association of Intervention Specialists. Sisu Healing Partners also donates annually to local non-profit recovery organizations, because for Taralynn, the mission doesn’t stop at the office door.
Beyond the Intervention: Why Collaborative Case Management Is the Heart of the Sisu Approach
What sets Sisu Healing Partners apart is not just the quality of the intervention itself, it’s what happens after. Taralynn founded the first agency in Oregon to offer comprehensive wraparound case management alongside intervention services, coaching, and clinical care. This integrated model recognizes a foundational truth: families don’t heal in a single moment.
Collaborative case management at Sisu means that the same team that walks alongside a family through an intervention continues to coordinate care, navigate systems, and provide accountability long after the initial crisis has passed.
This continuity of care is rare in the behavioral health field, and it’s one of the most meaningful ways Sisu separates itself from agencies that treat intervention as a single event rather than the beginning of a longer journey.
For families navigating the chaos of addiction, that consistent, trusted presence can make all the difference.
Learn more about how Sisu Healing Partners’ collaborative case management model works.
A Recognition of the People, Families, and Mission That Made It Possible
Awards like this rarely belong to one person alone. Taralynn is the first to say so.
“My mother, Victoria Aubry, has been the most instrumental to my success. As a single mother with a disability and an entrepreneur, she showed me resilience and determination firsthand. Alongside her, I’ve been supported by many mentors who’ve encouraged introspection, humility, and lifelong learning. That support shaped how I approach challenges, turning obstacles into opportunities, and it’s been foundational to the success of Sisu Healing Partners. I truly couldn’t have done it alone.”
— Taralynn Rosenthal, Founder & Managing Director, Sisu Healing Partners
That spirit of resilience modeled by those who came before, and paid forward to clients and families in crisis, is the thread that runs through everything Sisu Healing Partners does.
From the Finnish concept of sisu embedded in the agency’s name, to the wraparound care model built to walk families through their hardest chapters, Taralynn has built an organization that reflects who she is and who she has become.
The Portland Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 recognition is a well-deserved acknowledgment of a leader who has done far more than build a successful business. She has helped hundreds of families find a path forward when they didn’t think one existed, and she’s only just getting started.
Meet the full Sisu Healing Partners team.
Congratulations, Taralynn. From every client, family, and colleague whose life you’ve touched, this one is well-earned.