I had my debt counselling session with Greenpath

they are completely correct
as someone who worked for multiple banks doing collections for years I can SWEAR to you that a settlement company does nothing you could not do yourself.
The only leverage they have is convincing you to ignore your bills for 4+ months. Your credit is so horrific at that point, that the companies are more willing to negotiate lower settlements. You would be just as well served putting money aside in your savings for 5 months and then start calling the companies to negotiate. Make sure once you hit about 3+ months behind, you read everything they send you -- typically the system starts autogenerating offers of settlement at that point.

Also, most every company has a settlement department that you can contact and make an offer to. Now of course, if you are only 2 months behind, they aren't going to do anything for you -- but once you get to 3 months behind - most places will consider and approve any offer over 50%. If you need something lower, you will probably need to wait longer, almost until it charges off. Each account is going to be different. If your card is brand new and you went on a spending spree, they are probably not going to offer you 40% - if you've been paying for years, they probably will... YOU CAN DO ALL OF IT YOURSELF!