Aspiring Clinical Psychologist – Learning Support Assistant
Aspiring Clinical Psychologist – Learning Support Assistant
Location: Maidenhead
Start Date: January 2026
Pay: £101.40 per day
Hours: Monday–Friday, Term Time Only
Are you an aspiring Clinical Psychologist looking to gain essential hands-on experience before progressing to Assistant Psychologist roles or postgraduate Clinical Psychology training? This Learning Support Assistant position in Maidenhead provides outstanding practical experience working directly with autistic children, non-verbal pupils, and young people with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD).
Inspired by the structure of specialist autism-focused schools, this role offers you meaningful exposure to therapeutic approaches, behaviour frameworks, and multidisciplinary teamwork, skills that are highly valued in the psychology field.
Aspiring Clinical Psychologist – Learning Support Assistant – Education and Training – Aspiring Clinical Psychologist – Learning Support Assistant
Why this role is excellent for aspiring Clinical Psychologists:
1. Experience with non-verbal children: You’ll learn how behaviour communicates needs, how to use AAC tools (PECs, symbols, visuals), and how communication challenges influence emotional regulation – critical understanding for future clinical work.
2. Insight into autism and PMLD: Supporting pupils with diverse cognitive, sensory, and developmental profiles deepens your understanding of neurodiversity, a core component of modern clinical psychology.
3. Daily opportunities to apply psychological theory: You will see concepts such as behaviour analysis, attachment theory, sensory integration, and emotional regulation applied in real settings.
4. Multidisciplinary exposure: Work alongside Speech & Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Behaviour Specialists, and Educational Psychologists to understand how different therapeutic models integrate.
5. A highly relevant foundation for postgraduate routes: Admissions teams value direct work with vulnerable individuals, behavioural challenges, and additional needs—this role gives you all three.
6. Development of essential clinical skills: Observation, rapport-building, reflective practice, note-taking, safeguarding, communication adaptation, and therapeutic patience.
What your role will involve:
7. Supporting autistic pupils and children with PMLD throughout lessons, therapy sessions, and daily routines.
8. Using communication tools such as PECs, visuals, and sensory supports to aid non-verbal students.
9. Assisting with emotional regulation, sensory needs, and personalised behaviour plans.
10. Helping deliver structured learning programmes designed by teachers and therapists.
11. Creating a calm, consistent, and encouraging environment that promotes wellbeing.
Why this role will help you get into Clinical Psychology:
You will gain the type of frontline, high-impact experience that postgraduate programmes look for—working with vulnerable young people, applying psychological concepts, understanding behaviour as communication, and collaborating with qualified therapists. This role offers the same foundations that many Assistant Psychologist and trainee Clinical Psychologist candidates begin with.
Aspiring Clinical Psychologist – Learning Support Assistant – Education and Training – Aspiring Clinical Psychologist – Learning Support Assistant
If you are empathetic, reflective, patient, and motivated by helping young people with complex needs, this role offers the perfect early-career platform.
Begin your journey toward Clinical Psychology—apply today.
Aspiring Clinical Psychologist – Learning Support Assistant – Education and Training – Aspiring Clinical Psychologist – Learning Support Assistant