My question is... Can either of these help?

I am considering using a company like Consumer Credit Counseling which claims to contact your accounts and arrange lower interest and lower payments and then lump all of your debt into one monthly payment.

The lower payment would be very helpful at this point, but someone told me that using a company like this will actually hurt my credit worse.

Can anyone offer some direction?

It will not help your credit in the beginning.
Some of your creditors may not agree to be placed in the hands of the agency.
There is no requirement that they work with anyone, and they may or may not agree to lower your balances or interest rates.
I know that every company I have worked for, has NOT accepted these type of plans or offers. I have heard many horror stories about the payments being made to the agency but not being distributed to the proper creditors in the proper amounts and it ends up being a bigger mess than it was to begin with.
I am sure that some people have been helped, I just have not talked to any of them.