To my graduate students in counseling at Fairfield University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Wake Forest University, who have taught me to be precise and concise with my words and inspired me to be a better counselor.

Behind every book there is a story. This dictionary is no exception. The story is simple. Some years ago, one of my students asked me whether I could give her a concise definition of a word often used in counseling. I thought I could provide a definition, but I told her I would consult the glossary of a leading book in the field to make sure the definition was concise. To my surprise, that book did not have a glossary. “No problem,” I thought. “I'll go to another leading book in the field.” However, that book had a glossary but did not include the word for which I was looking. “Well, surely another major book in the field will have what I want,” I thought. I was wrong again!

Not known to give up easily, I decided I would find a dictionary of counseling terms. Surely, going to an authoritative source would solve my problem and save me time. Well, I was incorrect once more. I found a lot of dictionaries for a number of professions, but when it came to counseling, I could locate only three. One had been published in the 1960s, one in the early 1980s, and the most recent one (from the 1990s) contained fewer than 300 terms and not the one I wanted. Wow! The task that I expected would be simple had turned out to be anything but that.

Thus, the idea of my writing a dictionary of counseling was born. The purpose of this book is threefold. First, it is aimed at students and new professionals who are entering or have entered the profession of counseling and wish to better learn the language that goes with it. Second, this dictionary is intended to serve professors and practicing counselors as a quick reference source to commonly used counseling terms and historical contributors to the field. Third, the dictionary is meant to be a resource for the public to help laypersons discern what counselors and other helping professionals mean when they use specific words or refer to someone who influenced the development of counseling.

It is my hope that you will both enjoy as well as benefit from this reference. If so, your frustration in finding concise descriptors of counseling terms may be alleviated. More important, your understanding of counseling and related mental health fields may be enhanced.

In writing this dictionary, I am indebted to my teachers, colleagues, students, and clients, both past and present. They are too numerous to name individually. However, some have been especially helpful in recent years. Anita Hughes, my administrative assistant when I was in the Provost Office at Wake Forest University, read the initial drafts of this text and offered invaluable input and suggestions. Also providing me with excellent preliminary feedback were my colleagues in the Department of Counseling at Wake Forest University—especially Donna Henderson and Pamela Karr—and my graduate students, Mike Ryan, Paige Bentley, Dan Barnhart, Anne McMullan, and Katie Anne Burt. Outside reviewers for this dictionary included Scott E. Gillig, Barry University; Jerry A. Mobley, Fort Valley State University; Jeannette Seaberry, University of Nebraska, Omaha; H. Lori Schnieders, Vanderbilt University; and Stephen R. Wester, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

I am also indebted to my wife, Claire, and our children, Ben, Nate, and Tim. They made many interesting and constructive comments about this text, and they allowed me to use our home computer in between their community correspondence, schoolwork assignments, instant messaging, e-mails, and blogging activities. Finally, I appreciate the fine professionals at Pearson with whom I was associated for the first three editions of this work, especially Meredith Fossell and Kevin Davis, and my current editor at the American Counseling Association, Carolyn Baker. All have been wonderful to work with. Who could ask for more?

Samuel T. Gladding, PhD, is a professor in and the former chair of the Department of Counseling at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he has also served as the associate provost and assistant to the president. He has been a practicing counselor in both public and private agencies. His leadership in the field of counseling includes service as president of the American Counseling Association, the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, the Association for Specialists in Group Work, and Chi Sigma Iota Counseling Academic and Professional Honor Society International.

Dr. Gladding is the former editor of the Journal for Specialists in Group Work and the author of more than 40 books and 100 professional refereed publications. In 1999, he was cited as being in the top 1% of contributors to the Journal of Counseling ' Development from 1978 to 1993. Some of his most recent books include Counseling: A Comprehensive Profession (8th ed.), Groups: A Counseling Specialty (7th ed.), Family Therapy: History, Theory, and Process (6th ed.), The Creative Arts in Counseling (5th ed.), Clinical Mental Health Counseling in Community and Agency Settings (5th ed., with Deborah W. Newsome), and Becoming a Counselor: The Light, the Bright, and the Serious (2nd ed.).

Dr. Gladding's previous academic appointments have been at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Fairfield University. He also worked as director of children's services in a mental health center and in a private practice counseling group. He received his degrees from Wake Forest University (BA, MEd), Yale University (MAR), and the University of North Carolina–Greensboro (PhD). He is a national certified counselor, a certified clinical mental health counselor, and a licensed professional counselor (North Carolina). Dr. Gladding served as a member of the North Carolina Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and a trustee as well as chair of the American Counseling Association Foundation. He is also a Fellow in the Association for Specialists in Group Work and the American Counseling Association.

Dr. Gladding is married to the former Claire Tillson and the father of three children—Ben, Nate, and Tim. Outside of counseling, he enjoys swimming, poetry, history, and humor.