How do debt management programs affect my credit?

[Sylvester]

There are so many commercials about how I can reduce my debt that my head is spinning. Debt consolidation, not profit CCCS services, debt negotiation, bankruptcy, debt elimination, shortsales etc... I really cannot find a striaght forward answer anywhere online. This category " How do Debt Management Programs Impact Credit" was completely empty so i thought i would just go ahead and ask. Hopefully someone with some experience in this field can tell me the real deal behind debt management. I know paying off debt helps your credit but not if your need a company to help you or negotiate interest rates. Im sure creditors dont like to reduce the interest or the amount of debt you owe, so what really happens? Do your scores go down? Does something show up on my credit report saying that someone is helping me with my bills? If so how long does debt management stay on my credit reports? I know the credit bureaus keep negative information on credit reports for 7-10 years; is this 7 or 10 years? I have approximately 70k in debt, make about 43k and I am 67 years old.