What is the best way to go about cleaning up debts from credit report?

I have bad credit and I want to pay off all my debt that I have a obtained over the years and want to know exactly how I should do it. Should I contact a credit counselor or debt consolidator to speak to the creditors for me to "workout" the balances for me or what? Once I find out exactly what I owe I will be able to pay the balance off right away.