Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Dia merasa lebih tenang setelah beberapa sesi konseling dengan psikolog kampus. - He/She feels calmer after several counseling sessions with the campus psychologist.

Indonesian pronouns generally do not mark gender. You only know if it’s he or she from context, previous sentences, or extra information like the person’s name. In this single sentence alone, you can’t tell whether dia is male or female.

Why is there no word for “is” or “feels” between dia and lebih tenang?

The verb in the sentence is merasa:

dia merasa = he/she feels

Indonesian does not use a separate “to be” verb before adjectives in this structure. You just say:

dia merasa lebih tenang
literally: he/she feels more calm

So you don’t need anything like “is” or “to be” here. The feeling is expressed entirely by merasa plus the adjective phrase lebih tenang.

How does merasa work in a sentence like this? Can it be used with adjectives directly?

Yes. Merasa literally means to feel (emotionally or physically), and it often takes an adjective directly:

merasa senang = to feel happy
merasa sedih = to feel sad
merasa lelah = to feel tired
merasa lebih tenang = to feel calmer / more at ease

Patterns:

merasa + adjective
- Saya merasa lelah. = I feel tired.
merasa + noun/adjective + bahwa… (when introducing a clause)
- Saya merasa bahwa ini penting. = I feel (that) this is important.

In your sentence, merasa + lebih tenang is the simple merasa + adjective pattern.

What exactly does lebih mean here, and is it always necessary to show comparison?

Lebih means more or -er (comparative):

lebih tenang = more calm / calmer
lebih baik = better
lebih cepat = faster

In this sentence, lebih marks a comparison: calmer than before (or than some previous state), even though “than before” is not explicitly said.

Compare:

Dia merasa tenang. = He/she feels calm.
Dia merasa lebih tenang. = He/she feels calmer (than before / than previously).

If you remove lebih, the meaning changes from comparative (calmer) to simple state (calm).

Can tenang describe things other than a person’s feelings, like a place or a situation?

Yes. Tenang is quite flexible and can describe:

Emotional state
- Saya merasa tenang. = I feel calm.
Atmosphere / situation
- Suasana kelas sangat tenang. = The classroom atmosphere is very quiet/calm.
Physical environment (no noise / disturbance)
- Lingkungan di desa itu tenang. = The environment in that village is quiet/peaceful.

So in this sentence, lebih tenang is clearly about emotional calmness, but tenang can also mean quiet / peaceful depending on the subject.

What’s the difference between setelah and sesudah? Could I use sesudah here instead?

Setelah and sesudah both mean after, and in most everyday contexts they are interchangeable.

setelah beberapa sesi konseling
sesudah beberapa sesi konseling

Both are acceptable and mean after several counseling sessions.

Nuance:

Setelah is slightly more frequent in standard written Indonesian and feels a bit more neutral/formal.
Sesudah can sound slightly more colloquial in some regions but is still correct and common.

So yes, you could say:

Dia merasa lebih tenang sesudah beberapa sesi konseling dengan psikolog kampus.

What does beberapa add here? Does it mean a few or several, and can it be used with any noun?

Beberapa means a few, some, or several—a small, indefinite number greater than one.

beberapa sesi = a few / several sessions
beberapa hari = a few days
beberapa orang = some people

It is used directly before a noun, without a plural marker:

You don’t say beberapa sesi-sesi (that would be wrong).
Just beberapa sesi.

It’s usually used with countable nouns. With clearly uncountable nouns, Indonesians tend to use other words (like sedikit, sejumlah, etc.), but in everyday speech some people might still stretch beberapa.

Here, beberapa sesi konseling implies more than two sessions, but not a large number—something like a handful of sessions.

Is sesi an Indonesian word or a loanword, and could I replace it with something like pertemuan?

Sesi is a loanword (from English session, via Dutch/English influence). It is now fully accepted and very common, especially in academic, training, or therapy contexts.

sesi konseling = counseling session
sesi latihan = training session
sesi tanya jawab = Q&A session

You can sometimes replace sesi with pertemuan (meeting/session) depending on context:

beberapa sesi konseling
beberapa pertemuan konseling

Both are understandable. Sesi sounds a bit more technical/formal and fits well with counseling, workshops, courses, etc.

Why is konseling spelled with k and s, not something like konsering or counseling?

Konseling is also a loanword, adapted from English counseling but adjusted to Indonesian spelling conventions:

English c / k → Indonesian k
The sound /s/ is written with s
No w or ou combination

So it becomes konseling.

Meaning in Indonesian:

konseling = counseling (especially psychological or guidance counseling)

This word is standard and widely used in universities, schools, hospitals, etc.

Why do we use dengan before psikolog kampus? Could we use kepada instead?

Dengan literally means with, and in this sentence it indicates doing an activity together with someone:

sesi konseling dengan psikolog kampus
= counseling sessions with the campus psychologist

Using kepada would change the nuance. Kepada means to (direction, recipient):

berbicara kepada psikolog = speak to the psychologist
melapor kepada dosen = report to the lecturer

You might see berkonsultasi kepada psikolog, but for sesi konseling, dengan is the natural choice because it emphasizes the joint activity (session with someone), not just direction or recipient.

How is psikolog kampus structured? Does it mean campus psychologist or psychologist at the campus?

Psikolog kampus is a noun + noun phrase:

psikolog = psychologist
kampus = campus

In this kind of phrase, the second noun (kampus) modifies the first one (psikolog), similar to noun + noun compounds in English:

dosen kampus = campus lecturer
dokter kampus = campus doctor
psikolog kampus = campus psychologist

It can mean either:

the psychologist employed by the campus,
or a psychologist whose practice is located on the campus.

If you said psikolog di kampus, it would mean a psychologist at/on the campus (more like a location description). Psikolog kampus sounds more like an official role/title.

Is the word order in this sentence fixed, or could we move setelah to the front, like in English?

You can move the setelah phrase to the front. Both orders are correct:

Original:
- Dia merasa lebih tenang setelah beberapa sesi konseling dengan psikolog kampus.
Alternative:
- Setelah beberapa sesi konseling dengan psikolog kampus, dia merasa lebih tenang.

The second version sounds a bit more formal or written, but both are natural.

What is not natural is to break the core dia merasa lebih tenang with the setelah phrase in the middle, e.g.:

Dia setelah beberapa sesi konseling merasa lebih tenang.
→ This sounds awkward in Indonesian.

How do we know this refers to the past (after the sessions) when there’s no tense marker like did or has?

Indonesian usually doesn’t mark tense with verb changes. Time is understood from:

context,
time words (already, yesterday, later, etc.),
or logical sequence.

In your sentence:

setelah beberapa sesi konseling (after several counseling sessions)

This phrase implies that the sessions happened before the feeling of calm. So in English we naturally translate with a past or present-perfect sense:

He/She felt calmer after several counseling sessions…
or
He/She feels calmer now, after several counseling sessions…

If you want to emphasize that the sessions are already completed, you can add sudah:

Dia merasa lebih tenang setelah beberapa sesi konseling yang sudah dia jalani.
= He/She feels calmer after the counseling sessions that he/she has already gone through.

But even without sudah, the sequence is clear from setelah.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral? Would it be appropriate in academic or clinical writing?

The sentence is neutral and standard, perfectly appropriate for:

academic writing (e.g., a report on student mental health),
clinical notes (with minor adjustments),
news articles,
everyday educated conversation.

If you wanted to make it slightly more formal, you could adjust a bit:

Ia merasa lebih tenang setelah menjalani beberapa sesi konseling dengan psikolog kampus.

Here ia and menjalani sound a bit more formal than dia and the simpler structure, but your original sentence is already fine in most contexts.