143 Unique Pivot with Dominique Velasquez143 Unique Pivot with Dominique Velasquez
You're Sober! Now What?
Tamar Medford talks with Dominique Velasquez about her journey from painkiller dependence and overdose to recovery, purpose, and her PIVOT framework. Their conversation focuses on mindset, self-worth, and breaking the shame around addiction.
38:32•18 Oct 2021
Finding Purpose After Painkillers with Dominique Velasquez
Episode Overview
- Addiction can affect anyone, regardless of background, appearance, or success, and it does not discriminate.
- Medically assisted treatment, such as methadone or suboxone, can be a life-saving option for opiate dependence.
- Relapse can be used as feedback to identify triggers and patterns instead of proof of failure.
- Changing inner dialogue and giving yourself grace is crucial for building sustainable recovery.
- The PIVOT process (purpose, information, voices, own it, truth, trust) offers a structured way to rebuild identity and direction after addiction.
“Addiction was living hell. I would have given up anything to not be addicted at that time.”
How do individuals turn their lives around after addiction? This conversation between host Tamar Medford and guest Dominique Velasquez offers a raw, hopeful look at what happens after the pills stop and the real work begins. Dominique, a wife, mum, and new grandmother from Albuquerque, shares how a sudden bout of debilitating stomach pain in 2010 led to endless prescriptions for opiate painkillers.
She explains that when she first took a pill, "I felt a peace that I had never felt before"—a feeling that spiralled into dependency, withdrawal, and four years of secretly stealing medication from her grandfather, right up to an accidental fentanyl overdose. You’ll hear her talk honestly about shame, stigma, and why she delayed asking for help: "I was so ashamed of being judged.
I was so ashamed of being a drug addict." Yet that same experience now fuels her mission to "spread hope" and let others know they’re not alone. Tamar relates with her own story of high-functioning addiction and loss, creating a space where you’ll recognise that addiction doesn’t have to fit the stereotypical picture. A big part of the chat centres on mindset. Dominique describes learning to give herself grace, challenging harsh self-talk, and treating relapse as information rather than failure.
She walks through her six-step PIVOT framework—purpose and prayer, information, voices and visualisation, own it, truth and trust—showing how she rebuilt her self-worth and sense of purpose. This episode is ideal if you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or simply curious how people rebuild after opiate dependence and long-term painkiller use. It’s honest, emotional, and practical, with both women stressing that feelings need to be faced, not buried.
If you’ve ever thought you had to suffer in silence, could this be the spark that reminds you you’re worthy of help and change?
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