This is not your usual summer camp scene: at the University of Miami, a group of 10-year-old children hold their arms out and spin for two minutes, then collapse on the floor in a heap of dizziness and nausea.

``I think I'm going to throw up,'' one of them moans.

But a minute later, the boy reports that his discomfort has completely faded -- and that is precisely the point.

The exercise, which is meant to illustrate that bad feelings are often fleeting, is part of Emotion Detectives, a research project at the University of Miami Mini-Canes Recreational Sports Camp. Emotion Detectives is a pilot program developed by the Child and Adolescent Mood and Anxiety Treatment program at UM's Psychology Department, and is designed to teach children ages 7 to 10 how to cope with anxiety, stress and their emotions in a preventive way.

Teaching children as young as 7 how to cope with fear and anxiety in a preventive way is a novel concept. While there are many programs and therapies aimed at helping children who have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders, the list of anxiety-prevention programs is sparse, and there is little literature or research on the subject.

Jill Ehrenreich May, director of UM's Child and Adolescent Mood and Anxiety Treatment program, wants to change that, and find ways to prevent child anxiety and depression from developing into clinical problems.

Ehrenreich May says that childhood fears are completely normal -- what parent hasn't had to look under the bed for monsters, keep a night light on or soothe a child who had a run-in with a big dog at the park?

``Fear is a normative experience for everyone,'' she said. ``Everyone experiences it at one time or another. We know that each child is going to experience one to six fears at any one time.''

BIGGER FEARS

But Ehrenreich May says that for as many as 20 percent of children, anxiety can be ``clinically significant'' -- affecting their lives and resulting in a need for treatment. Such problems include separation anxiety, in which the child is terrified of leaving the parent and may refuse to go to school, day care or camp; social anxiety in which the child has tremendous anxiety about interacting with others; intense phobias of anything from dogs to elevators to sharks; and panic disorders, which are rare and accompanied by physical symptoms such as breaking out in a sweat, rapid pulse and shakiness.

While working as a psychology professor at Boston University, Ehrenreich May started a weeklong camp for children diagnosed with separation anxiety disorder. Parents would spend mornings with the children at first, and then gradually be ``weaned'' from them. The children would be rewarded with prizes and trips in the afternoons.

``We know these methods work well in treating kids who have been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, but what we don't know is how they work on a larger scale,'' said Ehrenreich May, who came to the University of Miami last August to help start the Child and Adolescent Mood and Anxiety Treatment program.

SETTING UP CAMP

She developed the Emotions Detectives program, and wanted to offer it in a camp setting -- someplace fun where kids would be more receptive.

Ehrenreich May approached UM about incorporating it into its summer sports camp. Participation in Emotions Detectives was optional for kids in the camp, and UM received approval from their parents. Nearly 80 of the children in the Mini-Canes camp are taking part.

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