Koffi Sowe, LCSW-C

About Koffi Sowe

I am Koffi Jamil Sowe, a Licensed Certified Clinical Social Worker (LCSW-C) based in Maryland with over 30 years of experience as a behavioral health professional. How did I choose my profession and/or how my profession chose me: I was raised in southern Virginia during the 1960s & 1970s in a large low-income working class African American family of 12. My parents had 5 boys & 5 girls and I am the 7th of the 10 children & 4th boy. In 1965 our parents bought their 1st house and we moved from “the projects”(public housing) to become “blockbusters”- the 1st African-American family to move into the White middle class neighborhood. When I was 14 my father suddenly died after his 8th heart attack at the young age of 52. Our mother didn’t remarry; thus I spent part of my adolescent & young adult years in a single parent multi- generational household (which included maternal grandmother, maternal great uncle & paternal uncle) . As teenagers & young adults we all worked to help support the family and pay for our private school & college education. After the death of my father I realized “I am not going to live forever” and asked myself “what are you going to do with your life?” As a young child & teenager I was exposed to & got to know children and families of diverse backgrounds including race, religion, ethnicity, profession, life experiences & social economic status. This was made possible as a result of my elementary & high school settings & my participation in school & community sports. As a result of my early exposure to diversity I learned & realized that families, couples and individuals of all diverse backgrounds are susceptible to problems/conflicts/struggles & challenges. Between my late teens and early twenties I decided that helping people, as a therapist, would be what I’ll do with my life. For over 35 years I’ve served families, couples, adults, teenagers and children through public/government and private (for profit and nonprofit) & faith-based human