If you are seeking alternative methods of debt relief over bankruptcy, you may want to avoid credit counseling and opt instead for debt consolidation or debt settlement. Though credit counseling can be helpful, it is not always as fully effective as other alternatives. Plus, credit counseling doesn’t accomplish much more than you could do on your own. It can relieve you of a few payments and lower your interest rates, though not necessarily by a lot. However, you can usually call your credit card company yourself and, with a little persistence, knock about 5 percentage points off your interest rate. For example, you could conceivably reduce a 14.99% APR to 9.99% all by yourself.