Through the use of stories of people who are successful at performing acts of good will as a profession, this book presents the realties of helping others. The intent is to help the beginning learner cope with and offer support to their commitment to serve others. It can be used as a text in undergraduate and graduate curriculum in counseling and health-related services. The organization of the book flows from a general, scholarly-based discussion of a topic to a more personal account from counselors, therapists, and teachers. Chapter One looks at what it means to help others for a living and considers the challenges and joys of the work. Chapter Two examines some of the theories and research that explain altruism, integrating what is known to account for this behavior. Chapter Three presents the stories of a dozen workers who explain their motives for why they dedicated their lives to service, while Chapter Four explains the benefits they derived from these experiences. In Chapter Five, practitioners explain what they perceive to be most helpful about the services they offer clients, and in Chapters Six and Seven they describe the obstacles that need to be overcome in the helping process. The final chapter provides beginning learners with practical advice on the efforts they need in order to become the best practitioner they can. (Contains 119 references and 2 tables.) (JDM)