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The constructed voice is the synthesis of connected and separate ways of knowing. It is a fusion between the left and right sides of the brain so that the mind is fully fertilised and uses all its faculties (Woolf 1945). Practitioners with constructed voice speak with an informed and authentic voice. They are able to think and voice outside normal frames of reference, shifting previously abstract frames into personal frames. Through developing the constructed voice, the practitioner puts extant sources of knowledge in its place, no longer succumbing to ‘the belief that the “soft stuff” such as feelings and beliefs and support, are not quite as substantive as the hard data from laboratory reports and sophisticated monitoring’ (Visinstainer 1986, p. 37).

Hardy used voice as a metaphor for her transformation through reflection (Johns and Hardy 2005) is a powerful endorsement of guided reflection. She writes:

By using Belenky et al.’s (1986) idea of voice, I feel I have become more empowered to practice more in tune with my values than previously. Before, I felt I needed to be in control and hence reduced the person to a patient to be controlled. Paradoxically, by letting go of the need to control I am more in control of myself as a person. As a consequence, I am less anxious and more creative, more able to realise desirable practice. When I speak with colleagues, I speak with a more knowledgeable, empathic and passionate voice!. (p. 96)

Having a constructed voice does not mean it is heard or listened to by those who claim authority to make decisions. Belenky et al. (1986, p. 146) with a salutary voice note:

Even among women who feel they have found their voice, problems with voice abound. Some women told us, in anger and frustration, how frequently they felt unheard and unheeded. In our society, which values the word of male authority, constructivist women are no more immune to the feeling of being silenced than any other group of women.

As such, the development of the assertive voice is vital aspect of reflection through such approaches as the assertive action ladder.²