Hard to Write a Role for a Good Therapist

Yael Hedaya is the Israeli novelist who wrote the seductive female patient segments of “B’Tipul,” the original Israeli TV series that became HBO’s “In Treatment.” She appeared this spring in New York at a screening of an episode from the Hebrew series’ first season, and revealed some of her challenges.

Among them: creating a script in which the therapist manages to resist the seduction. “The psychiatrist advising us on the series kept reminding me, ‘He’s a good therapist. You have to write him as a good therapist’ and I wanted a less beautiful actress for the part. The actress they used was so gorgeous. No man could resist her. ”