I prefer face to face, but because of convenience (time issue), I usually go in the confessional. I have never been to England, so I can’t answer the question. That is interesting though.
I have never seen one at all maybe if I head down I may see one. I am more in concern whether it would help my anxiety not sure whether face to face or confessional would be better. However I think my anxieties are probably going to be eased once I get there.
I have huge issues with anxiety because I have Asperger syndrome. I feel like it is easier for me to do face to face because of that I think it’s easier from a pastoral perspective too
And that’s the whole point. 
Do you actually look at the priest when you confess face to face??Personally I prefer face to face.
I’m not kidding myself. They know who people are for the most part. And they’ve heard it all. It’s far easier to resolve not to do something sinful again when you’re looking at a person standing in the person of Christ.
I confess in the Benedictine abbey to which I am an oblate. There are two regular confessors, that both know me. And even the substitutes from time to time know me. There is the option of screen or face-to-face and I just do face-to-face, there’s no hiding. Plus both confessors are excellent and go above and beyond the call of simply listening and absolving. They work with regular penitents to help them on their conversion journeys.Do you actually look at the priest when you confess face to face??
I can’t. If I do, I freak. So I look very hard straight at my little confession booklet that tells me everything I need to say or do.
At my First Confession, when I converted, it was face to face, but the priest covered his face with a little purple stole. So I assumed that face to face does not equal eye contact. So I studiously avoid it.
(Obviously, I am a huge fan of having access to a screen even in an open reconciliation room.)
Oh I have no doubt you are right about that. But I have a general problem of eye contact making me a bit nervous, and combine that with the fact that I must do or say certain things in order for it to be the proper matter for a sacrament, well, I know I would totally forget what I was supposed to do.
I know you didn’t address this to me, but I’ll give you my answer.Do you actually look at the priest when you confess face to face??
I almost always confess face-to-face and haven’t gone behind a screen in years. My current confessor is a Byzantine priest, and in the Byzantine rite, we confess in front of an icon of Christ, with the priest standing off to the side, so I would have to take my focus off of the image of Christ to turn to Father. It is very easy to avoid eye contact. When I confess to Latin priests face-to-face, they are almost always looking down or otherwise avoiding eye contact.You most certainly do - in fact London was where I started going to confession again precisely because of confessionals (neither my parish, nor Westminster Cathedral offered any other option).
I too have never seen a catholic church in England without a confessional.
Oh there are some around. However London seems to be particularly blessed with some very fine churches, and traditional Confessional boxes seem to be very common. Perhaps the same situation doesn’t apply in small towns.
London does indeed have some very fine churches, and almost all the central ones have a sung Latin mass sung to a polyphonic setting every Sunday.