This paper offers some reflections on a journey of discovery that I began six years ago with an introduction to Patricia Crittenden's Dynamic Maturational Model (DMM) of attachment. One crucial change of perspective offered by the DMM is in the understanding of clients' attachment needs within the context of responding to danger in addition to a need for safety and security. The paper gives a brief overview of the model, and explores ways in which the author has used it in application to the practice of psychotherapy, while also drawing upon ideas of others, particularly Bowlby and his five therapeutic tasks. The paper describes the use of the DMM and Crittenden's version of the Adult Attachment Interview in the formulation of a different perspective to what is usually regarded as disorganized attachment, and also to the often contentious diagnostic label of ‘borderline personality disorder’. A case history is presented, based upon a psychotherapeutic approach that draws upon these ideas.