You are not returning the swing thread properly. I realize you are using callable/runnable but i'm guessing you are not doing it right (although you didn't post enough code to know for sure).
The basic structure would be:
swingMethod() { // Okay, this is a button callback, we now own the swing thread
Thread t=new Thread(new ActuallyDoStuff());
t.start();
}
public class ActuallyDoStuff() implements Runnable {
public void run() {
// this is where you actually do the work
}
}
This is just off the top of my head, but I'm guessing that you either aren't doing the thread.start and are instead calling the run method directly, or you are doing something else in the first method that locks it up (like thread.join). Neither of these would free up the swing thread. The first method MUST return quickly, the run() method can take as long as it wants.
If you are doing a thread.join in the first method, then the thread is NOT being returned to the system!
Edit: (Second edit actually)
I think to speak to the problem you are actually feeling--you might want to think more in terms of a model/view/controller system. The code you are writing is the controller (the view is generally considered to be the components on the screen--view/controller are usually very tightly bound).
When your controller gets the event, it should pass the work off to your model. The view is then out of the picture. It does not wait for the model, it's just done.
When your model is finished, it needs to then tell the controller to do something else. It does this through one of the invoke methods. This transfers control back to the controller and you go on your merry way. If you think about it this way, separating control and deliberately passing it back and forth doesn't feel so bulky, and it's actually very common to do it this way.