Hi Andy,
It seems the only difference is if you believe hypnosis can make people do things against their will - is this what you mean by 'bypassing the critical faculty' Mark?
No, this is not what I meant at all.
By bypassing the "critical faculty" I meant that during the hypnotic state, the logical or questioning part of the conscious mind is usually bypassed, making it easier for the client to accept the suggestion.
You have to acheive a certain amount of belief or trust in the client that the therapy is going to work. If the client has any niggling doubts, they are normally created by the conscious mind, the part that operates within the "comfort zone" and doesn't want to change.
However, during hypnosis, that conscious part of the mind is bypassed, therefore allowing the suggestion to pass through into the subconscious without interference from the "critical faculty" that questions the validity of the said suggestion.
Referring to the current thread, it is difficult for a client in a great deal of pain to accept that the pain can be reduced by the power of the mind. The client says "yes, it can", the conscious mind says "no, it can't". However, during hypnosis, that suggestion is normally not questioned. It, therefore, gets through to the subconscious and takes affect without the "critical faculty" getting chance to question it.
I hope that makes it a little clearer.