An introduction before you actually confront (7)
I believe the answer is:
preface
'an introduction' is the definition.
(preface is a kind of introduction)
'actually confront' is the wordplay.
'actually' becomes 'pre' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'confront' becomes 'face' ('face' can be a synonym of 'confront').
'pre'+'face'='PREFACE'
'before you' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for preface that I've seen before include "Foreword" , "Opening words" , "preliminaries" , "Preamble" , "Introductory text" .)