working with a debt cc

Do you mean debt settlement not debt counseling?
You most certainly can negotiate with your creditors. The thing that hurts your credit is allowing the accounts to become delinquent and this is what a settlement company wants. It gives the impression that you are unable to meet you financial responsibilities and makes the creditor willing to settle for less. Rather then not get paid at all.
There are sample letters in the ???????do it yourself??????? section that you can use to request validation and to make offers. It will take time and effort but just keep a good paper trail and you should be able to do most anything yourself.

thanks, toya. I'll take a look at those sample letters and get to work.