Emotions can’t be stopped. They simply occur. And they happen for a reason. Sometimes prepare our body to protect ourselves or as you, Tisha, mention, protect our kids.
The problem is when these emotions can’t be handled and happen in contexts where our lives are not at risk. They are there nonetheless to teach us something. Maybe when we have to face to a grief for the lost of somebody, maybe because we don’t find in the other the response we are waiting...whatever, the emotions belong to us. Noone is responsible of them. As long as they are not life-threatening.
So, I think the most intelligent things to do is to consider them limiting their role and think that we are much more than emotions. We have also a rational brain part and we must give it the possibility to play its role also. Why? Identifying little by little these emotions and feeling them but taking into account that they are there for a reason and that this is their role to appear as a red light but they are only a part of us. Many times they don’t have another aim than recalling us a trauma, a last bad experience. They don’t have necessarily to respond to a reality but a fear, a trauma, etc.

Tisha, you named DBT, I’ve never done it but I heard about it and from what I heard it’s very helpful dealing with emotions. Indeed many psychologists nowadays, use some techniques that may be considered very close to this therapy.
Are you seeing a therapist? If so, is (s)he familiarised with the techniques worked on DBT?