This article explains that the phenomenological approach in counseling began as a movement to counterbalance the influence of psychoanalysis in psychotherapy and counseling. Phenomenology is defined as the study of the world as we immediately experience it, pre-reflectively rather than as we conceptualize, categorize, or reflect on it. Through dialogue, we grasp the essence or common meaning of co-constructed lived experience. The counselor's understanding of the client is a shared experience brought about through such dialogue. Counseling approaches as they relate to phenomenology are discussed, including transpersonal, person-centered, and existential counseling. The article concludes that phenomenology differs from both positivism and post-modernism because it emphasizes the subjective meaning of each individual and the essence of human lived experience. Recommendations are provided for counselors, including being cautiously aware of their influence on the interaction between client/participant and himself/herself. Also included is a discussion of the similarities between the counselor and researcher approach to phenomenology in focusing on the here and now meaningful experiences of participants. (Contains 11 references.) (JDM)