ABSTRACT
Escape hatch closure is a controversial piece of TA theory. It was developed by Drye et al. (1973), Holloway (1973), Boyd and Cowles-Boyd (1980), and more recently, Stewart (2007). The central premise of escape hatch closure is that individuals, as part of a tragic script, may incorporate an `escape hatch'. The escape hatch is not the positive thing we might ordinarily assume it to be, but is one whereby the individual escapes from their situation. The three traditional escape hatches referred to within TA are: kill or harm self, kill or harm others and go crazy. Some TA therapists add a fourth escape hatch of run away. If an individual has an escape hatch `open' within their script, the idea is that the individual believes at some level that `if things get really bad around here, I will kill or harm myself or others, or go crazy, or run away'. These are seen to be manifestations of a tragic script, and may be the culmination of a third-degree game.
