Lohan's backslide typical in recovery.

Byline: Stephanie Shapiro

Jul. 26--When a celebrity like Lindsay Lohan is arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and drug possession shortly after leaving a rehab center, the public may question whether treatment for substance abuse works, experts say.

But Lohan's relapse is not so much an indictment of rehab as a predictable slip in what is typically a long and painful road to recovery, they say.

When stars backslide, "It definitely doesn't look good for rehab centers because you get this biased view that people don't do well after rehab," says Dr. Bernadette Solounias, medical director for Father Martin's Ashley, a residential drug and alcohol treatment center in Havre de Grace. But for every high-profile failure, there are plenty of anonymous success stories, Solounias says.

Because recovery is often a halting process, "I…