Terry’s quest for personal answers and his desire to help others led him to a Masters in Counseling, a Masters of Theology, and a Doctorate in Personality, Religion, and Culture from Boston University. While in Boston, Terry spent ten years teaching and counseling on the university campus, ten years counseling and teaching in metropolitan Boston, and five years directing a counseling center.

Terry has lived in Nashville, Tennessee for the past twenty-five years and has been married to Charlotte Burkett Smith since 1965. In August of 2015, they celebrated 50 years of marriage. They have four daughters and thirteen grandchildren, and together they provide premarital and marital resources for couples seeking to overcome and grow through the obstacles people face in marriage.