Make it easy to mask or deny being disengaged thus

make it easy to mask or deny being disengaged. Thus, someone can pretend to be
attentive if challenged, because you generally say or do something, such as using the
member’s name, prior to challenging him or her. This allows for just enough time
for the member to snap back into the present. Free association and analysis can be
tied to self-exploration—that is, the member has something triggered by an event
or comment in the group and begins to follow where that leads; hence the disen-
gagement. Sometimes new learning and understanding can emerge for that person.
However, most mental disengagement is an attempt to flee the group, get away
from uncomfortable triggered feelings, and/or deny personal associations to what
is taking place in the group. Leaders will want to know what the stimulus was that
triggered the mental disengagement.
Emotional disengagement can be less difficult to observe for some group mem-
bers than mental disengagement, because the leader has become familiar with this
nonverbal attending behavior and is aware when it changes to withdrawal. The
person can physically alter his or her posture, eye contact, limb positioning such as
crossing arms across chest, and tone of voice. Emotional disengagement is gener-
ally the basis for the following behaviors:
• Changing the topic
• Moving back from the group or turning away from the speaker
• Refusing to initiate or maintain eye contact
• Starting side conversations
• Fiddling with possessions, or self, such as hair
• Trying to soothe or reassure someone by giving advice, or making comments
to lessen emotional intensity

Problems, Concerns, & Intervention Skills 187
• Asking questions, especially rhetorical questions
• Intellectualizing
• Becoming numb or confused
• Monopolizing group time by telling a personal story in detail
• Becoming aggressive
These behaviors and others are used to keep the person from awareness and
from experiencing personal and uncomfortable feelings. The fear and dread of
this personal discomfort motivates the disengagement, not the other person’s
emotions. Other people’s emotions may trigger emotional detachment, but
the person who uses it is trying to get away from something that is personally
threatening.
The short-term nature of psychoeducational groups can make it difficult for
group leaders to effectively challenge, manage, and explore these disengagements.
Rather than working through the causes for the disengagement, leaders may have
to be content with noting it, reflecting on what may have triggered it, and encour-
aging members to speak more often about their feelings, ideas, and thoughts in
the here and now. In-depth exploration requires a strong therapeutic alliance and
more time than is available for most psychoeducational groups.
Understanding the Goal for Under-Participation
The goals for under-participation typically are rebellion, self-protection, or
revenge. Rebellion (“You cannot make me participate”) usually occurs with
involuntary group participants. They did not choose to be in the group, and
because they were forced or coerced in some way to attend, they will refuse to