AT THE age of nine, Brock Shanks was living a nightmare, medicated to his eyeballs and unable to attend school full time.

Six years earlier, the Mackay boy had been diagnosed with several 'labels', as his mother Nicky Shanks refers to them: ASD, OCD and ADHD.

In layman's terms, that means autism spectrum disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

"We found the therapies we had access to weren't very effective,” Ms Shanks said.

"It got to the point where it was difficult for Brock to be at school full time, so we started looking outside of the box, away from conventional therapies, and we found here.”

'Here' is the Brain, Mind and Memory Centre, a Tweed Heads clinic focussed on treating a wide range of psychological conditions, from post-traumatic stress disorder to peak performance training, head injury, anxiety and depression and basic memory problems.

It also focusses on more common childhood conditions, including autism and Asperger's, ADHD and ADD.

Since their first visit to the centre in August, a relieved Ms Shanks said her son had gone off most of his medication and returned to school almost full time.

"He's much more able to stay calm,” she said.

As for Brock, he said he felt "more happy” - a comment unimaginable a few months ago.

Using cutting-edge technology, the centre's managing director Dr Rustam Yumash first assessed Brock measuring his electrical brain activity while he completed tasks. These measurements are sent to one of the world's leading neuroscientists where it is compared to an international normative database and used to personalise training protocols for Brock.

Sensors connected to a specialised computer program are then attached to specific areas of Brock's head, whose brain then controls the entire system.

"We are optimising brain function, helping the brain to self-stimulate to make sure it doesn't work too fast or too slow,” Dr Yumash said. "In Brock's case, he was experiencing slow activity and couldn't focus. The potential is all there but we need to encourage it to get into a better zone.

"Brock's inability to focus and his reactivity made him feel better for a moment with ADHD-type behaviour. It is a survival skill to make him feel better for a while but in the long term it doesn't work.”

Using computer games, Dr Yumash is able to help Brock train his brain to connect the synapses and perform better. Dr Yumash and his team also discovered a problem with Brock's vision and auditory processing, relatively common with children suffering such disorders.

"I myself am quite stunned at the success of this therapy,” said Dr Yumash. "It works so well with children like Brock.”

As for Ms Shanks, who travels with Brock from Mackay to Tweed Heads for treatment, her family couldn't be happier.

"It really has changed our lives,” she said.

"Prior to coming here, his obsession was so bad it was difficult to access the community and be at school. He can now communicate better at school. His medication was such a high dose I was concerned about its long-term effects.”