There is no required amount of time, it is suggested you go at least once a year, during Lent. Other than that you may attend whenever you feel nessicary.

In Catholic school, the nuns tell you it is good to confession once every couple of weeks at least; they just don't force you. To go to confessoin once every year would be the BARE minumum. I don't remember his name, but a saint once said that a righteous man sins seven times a day.

If you want to follow in the strict sense the Catholic Church precepts, then you are supposed to go to Mass every Sunday. If so, then you are encouraged to take part of the sacrament of Eucharist (or communion) every Sunday, and to do so you have to be free of sin, which you accomplish through confession. In conclusion, you should go to confession every week. Of course if you are righteous enough to not commit a single sin during the week (or a longer period of time) you are not required to do it. Note on the bad rating of Ignatius: I don't know where is this person from, or what branch of Roman Catholic religion he belongs to, but strictly speaking you are supposed to be confessed to be able to have communion. And you are supposed to have communion every week. SO, my conclusion stands.

The first goal to confession is to tell God you have sinned against Him and then be contrite in your claim to want to sin no more. Confession before Mass is mostly to remove the block between you and God from a grave sin. Therefore, confession is always needed as soon as possible when there is a known grave sin that has been committed. Confession of venial sins is good too, but not required to go to Mass and receive the Eucharist. It is of importance to understand that confession is not just for the sinner but for the whole Communion of the faithful. So a person that regularly goes to Confession, is contrite in his asking for forgiveness and does the expected penance, would be less inclined to commit a grave offense that would separate themselves from God. A person that very seldom if ever goes to Confession is more likely to get into habits of sinful behavior, and have a less formed conscience and be easy target for Satan and his dominions to convert to his ways. So go to confession as soon as a grave sin is commited, if ever, and go as often as you find yourself slipping into bad habits, that could tempt you to more serious sin.

It is not nessesary to go to confession every week.If you commit mortal sin, you cannot partake in Communion. 3 to 4 times a year should be suffice.

I think that it is important for Catholics to go to confession regularly. In addition to repenting of past sins, one should also want to obtain from confession the graces to help overcome sinful tendencies. I go to confession every week (as far as I am able); I suggest going every week if possible. If that is not possible, then I would suggest trying for every two or three weeks, or at the very least, once a month. It is important for Catholics to make a habit of going to confession. I should also mention that, even if one honestly couldn't think of any sins since the last confession, one can re-confess and renew sorrow for any sin of one's past life, to make a good confession. (Of course, this assumes that one has no unconfessed mortal sins; all known mortal sins must be confessed in at least one good confession). On the other hand, however good one's intentions are, I think it is probably unlikely that one can last a whole week without committing at least some venial sin. Again, even though confession of venial sins is not required, regular confession is a great means of obtaining graces to help overcome sin.