The consequences of alienation or attempted alienation can be quite profound. Alienation at its best is a form of psychological programming; at worst, it's brainwashing. Alienation may result in the permanent destruction of a child's relationship with the rejected parent and in long-lasting psychological problems for the alienated child.

Gardner's Parental Alienation Syndrome continues to live on in popular culture, especially among men's rights groups, often without the dose of tempering wisdom offered by more recent research, including the writing of Kelly and Johnston. Claims that a child doesn't want to see a parent because of alienation are commonplace in Canada's courts, but rarely proven. Some lawyers even think that the rate of alienation claims is on the rise.