Background. Psychological stress is a state within a person and his/her circumstances that are considered to be beyond his/her ability and threatens his/her well-being. In this research, the problem focused on stressful condition experienced by a college student. Based on the initial assessments, the participant reported several stress symptoms which affected her ability in maintaining focus in doing tasks and influenced her motivation and learning performance, while her intelligence was superior. The participant’s condition was caused by her lacked of self-acceptance (i.e the ability to accept oneself fully, regardless one’s behavior is appropriate, competent, liked, and approved by others). She had a false perception towards herself and society that made her emotions and behavior tend to be negative toward others. Thus, changing the participant’s perception towards herself and others will help her reducing the negative response that arose from stressful conditions. One of the effective interventions is the Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) approach. CBT is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on the role of thoughts and mental images in feelings and behaviors. Several studies related to the approach to CBT show a positive effect on self-acceptance and relieved stress. However, only a few studies using a CBT approach that focused on solving student’s issues in college. The current study aimed to examine the effectiveness of the CBT approach in improving self-acceptance and decreasing stress response in a college student.

Methods. This study is a single case study conducted on 20-year-old female college students who was studying in 4^th semester. There were three stages conducted in this study: pre-test, intervention, and post-test. The main targets of the intervention were (1) identifying her self-potential and self-judgment, (2) realizing her false perception of herself and her social environment, (3) changing her perception to be more relevant and positive. The intervention was conducted in 3 sessions within almost 3 months. During the intervention session, the participant asked to complete an activity sheets to identify her emotions and thoughts. At the end of each session, the participant asked to make a journal about her insights. The post-test was administered at the end of the third session. The question used in the post-test were the same as the ones used in the pre-test. The follow-up sessions conducted in 2 weeks and 2 months after the intervention stage. The effectiveness of the intervention program analyzed by the participant answers during the pre-test and post-test sessions. The participant journals and activity sheets were also be analyzed qualitatively.

Results. The results showed a transformation in the participant's perception towards herself and society in a more positive way. She had been able to accept the situations and conditions that have affected her automatic thoughts. In her social environment, she began to open up with the people around her and sought not to worry anymore about negative judgments from others. In the 5^th semester, her grades improved. It made the negative response over her stress decreased. Regarding the results of the first follow up, the researcher needs to do another follow-up to observe the progress of the intervention.

Conclusions. This study showed that intervention using a CBT approach was effective in improving self-acceptance and the ability to adapt towards social contexts. It also led to a decrease in participants' stress symptoms, thus affecting her motivation and learning performance in college study. This research was an initial step for the participant to identify herself and her society. Therefore, the participant was encouraged to practice what she had gained during the intervention, as of example by joining groups.

Added-Values. The findings can be used by practitioners and counselors to increase college student’s motivation and performance by improving self-acceptance with a CBT approach. It also examines various factors that need to be considered in conducting intervention towards students in college.

Keywords: cognitive behavioral therapy, self-acceptance, stress, college student