School policy which emphasizes the placement of handicapped children in the regular classroom has received acclaim both as a step toward equity and as an attempt to improve the academic learning and social adjustment of handicapped students. Although new teachers entering the system are better prepared than ever before to face the difficulties posed by handicapped students, their skills may be little valued by the old system. Most teachers presently employed have received little training in the competencies needed for effective mainstreaming. Consequently, both new and old educational personnel experience stress with regard to mainstreaming efforts. Three stages of adapting to stress (alarm, resistance, and exhaustion) and three classes of responses to stress (direct action, cognitive reappraisal, and anxiety) have been identified. The educational system can reduce the stress of mainstreaming by providing increased training, de-emphasizing procedural requirements, facilitating placement and re-placement decisions, and providing information to influence teacher expectations. Teachers themselves can reduce stress by knowing their own standards and limits, analyzing their view of the instrumental role, and establishing a teaching team. In summary, the process of adapting to the stress produced by mainstreaming can be facilitated by effective procedures within the educational system and by the teachers' cognitive reappraisal of their role, the students and their potential, and instructional procedures. (NB)