What it is
Totalizing blame is collapsing a complex outcome, with many causes, onto a single actor. It’s attractive because it restores a sense of control: if it’s all their fault, then the world makes sense, and the fix is simple.
It’s usually wrong, and it usually blocks the actual fix.
How it shows up for me
When something falls apart in my life, my first draft of the story always has one villain. Sometimes it’s someone else. Sometimes it’s me. The second draft, the true one, always has more names in it, and more circumstances.