This article is about the report of an experience and it was written based on a scientific initiation research, developed in an institute called Cooesperança (Santa Maria / RS). The work involved the organization of reflexive groups with merchants and individual interviews which aimed to comprehend how the community psychology can interfere and how it can be inserted in a cooperative environment which produces work and income. Also, a space for a talk about the individuals' hopes and difficulties was provided. From the merchants' speech, we realize that Psychology can have a very important role, when it comes to working in the formation of the merchants themselves, integrated to the work of other technicians, before they enroll definitely in the cooperative, that is, when the merchants gather in groups of five families to turn into a cooperative. At this point, individual and general interests are taken into consideration, and they need to be reorganized and rethought, considering the proposal of the solidarity economy.
Cooperativism; Community Psychology; Solidarity Economy